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GLIMPSES THROUGH LIFE'S WINDOWS. 
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Dr. Miller's Year Book 



A YEAR'S DAILY READINGS 

/ BY 
J. R. MILLER, D.D. 

AUTHOR OF "SILENT TIMES," "MAKING THE MOST OF LIFE," " THE 

EVERYDAY OF LIFE," " GLIMPSES THRO' LIFE'S 

WINDOWS," ETC. 



Why cannot we, slipping our hand into His each day, walk trustingly 
over the day's appointed path, thorny or flowery, crooked or straight, 
knowing that evening will bring us sleep, peace, and home ? 

Phillips Brooks. 




NEW YORK: 46 East i 4 th Street V\0 fcC (TO A 0^ 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY 



BOSTON : 100 Purchase Street 





THE LIBRARY 
OF CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON 




y\* 



Copyright, 1895, 
By Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. 



TYPOGRAPHY BY C. J. PETERS & 
BOSTON, 



SON, 



A verse of Scripture in the morning may become 
a benediction for all the day. It may sing in the 
heart as a snatch of sweet song from morning till 
evening. It may become a liturgy of prayer in which 
the soul shall voice its deepest wants and hungers, 
amid toils, struggles, and cares. It may be a guide 
through perplexing tangles, an angel whispering 
cheer, a comforter breathing peace in sorrow. 

In these pages a Bible text — oft-times only a 
fragment — stands at the head, with some words 
which may illustrate and emphasize the thought 
of the Scripture, and frequently with some quoted 
lines which may have a message to the reader. 

No effort has been made to follow any chrono- 
logical or other order, save that in a few cases 
fragments of the same story are . kept together. 

If there seem to be fewer texts from the Gospels 
than one would expect, the reason is that in an- 
other volume — Come Ye Apart, published by Ward 
and Drummond, New York — the author has taken 
all the year's readings from the Gospels, following 
the course of our Lord's earthly life from beginning 
to close. 

For the title of the book, my good friends the 
publishers are responsible. I would have preferred 
something more impersonal, but I have let them 
have their way. j R M 

Philadelphia. 



January 1. 

The Lord bless thee and keep thee : 

The Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and be 
gracious unto thee : 

The Lord lift tp his countenance ipon thee, and give 
thee peace. — Numbers vi. 24-26. 

IN the first days of a new year we all say to our 
friends and neighbors, " Happy New Year ! " 
Our hearts are full of generous feelings and wishes 
for all we meet. But what can we do to give them 
a happy new year ? We cannot compel their cir- 
cumstances into fortunate adjustments, so as to pro- 
duce happiness. Besides, we cannot know what 
would be the truest and best blessings for our 
friends. 

After all, the only really safe thing is to pray 
that God may be with them through the year, and 
may bless them in his own best and truest way. 
He knows better than we do what is the best bless- 
ing. Mrs. Browning puts it well : — 

" God be with thee, my beloved — God be with thee ! 

Else alone thou goest forth 

With thy face unto the north, 
Moor and pleasance all around thee and beneath thee, 

Looking equal in one snow ! 

While I, who try to reach thee, 

Vainly follow, vainly follow, 

With the farewell and the hallo, 

And cannot reach thee so. 

Alas ! I can but teach thee — 
God be with thee, my beloved — God be with thee ! " 

00 



January 2. 

Ye have compassed this mountain lo?ig enough : turn 
you northward. — Deuteronomy ii. 3. 

WE ought never to be willing to live any year 
just as we lived the last one. No one is 
striving after the best things who is not intent on an 
upward and a forward movement continually. The 
circular movement is essential too, — the going 
around and around in the old grooves, — routine 
work, daily tasks ; yet, even in this treadmill round, 
there should be constant progress. We ought to 
do the same things better each day. Then in the 
midst of the outward routine our inner life ought 
to be growing in earnestness, in force, in strength, 
in depth. 

Yet there are some people whose life year by year 
is only a going around and around in the old beaten 
paths, with no onward movement. They are like 
men who walk in a circular course for a prize, cov- 
ering a thousand miles, perhaps, but ending just 
where they began. Rather, our daily walk should 
be like one whose path goes about a mountain, but 
climbs a little higher with each circuit, until at last 
he gains the clear summit, and looks into the face of 
God. While we must do in a measure the same 
things every day, we should do them a little better 
with each repetition. One writes : — 

" Speak a shade more kindly than the year before; 
Pray a little oftener; love a little more; 
Cling a little closer to the Father's love; 
Thus life below shall liker grow to life above." 

(2) 



January 3. 

The barrel of meal wasted ?iot, neither did the cruse 
of oil fail — i Kings xvii. 16. 

THERE was always just a little meal and a little 
oil, but the supply never grew any less. After 
each day's food had been taken out, there was an- 
other day's left. There was never a month's supply 
ahead, nor even two days' supply. The added pro- 
vision came only as there was need. Thus there 
was in that household a continuous lesson in faith. 
But the food of no day failed. 

The lesson is, that God wants us to live by the 
day. The same truth is taught us in the prayer 
Christ gave : " Give us this day our daily bread." 
Enough for the day is all we are to ask. God does 
not promise supplies in advance. If we have only 
bread for to-day, and are doing our duty faithfully, 
we may trust him till to-morrow for to-morrow's food. 
And it will surely come, for God's word fails not. 

" Charge not thyself with the weight of a year, 
Child of the Master, faithful and dear; 
Choose not the cross for the coming week, 
For that is more than he bids thee seek. 
Bend not thine arms for to-morrow's load; 
Thou mayest leave that to thy gracious God. 
8 Daily,' only, he saith to thee, 
* Take up thy cross and follow me.' " 

It is well that we get this lesson fixed in our 
heart at the beginning of the year. As the days 
come, each one will bring with it its own little 
basket, carrying a day's supplies, but no more. 
(3) ' 



January 4. 

If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my 
disciples. — St. John viii. 3 1 . 

IT is not enough to begin ; continuance is necessary. 
Mere enrolment will not make one a scholar ; 
the pupil must continue in the school through all the 
long course, until he has mastered every branch. 
One who has observed the course of men for many 
years says that success in life depends upon staying 
power. The reason for failure in most cases is lack 
of perseverance. Men get tired and give up. There 
are thousands who begin to follow Christ, but who, 
when discouragements come, faint and drop out. 

To abide in Christ's word is to obey him. We 
must do it continuously too ; not to-day only, but 
to-morrow as well, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 
unto the end. 

There is another way of abiding in the word of 
Christ. Many of his words are promises. The for- 
ests in summer days are full of birds'-nests. They 
are hidden among the leaves. The little birds know 
where they are ; and when a storm arises, or when 
night draws on, they fly each to his own nest. So 
the promises of God are hidden in the Bible, like 
nests in the great forests ; and thither we should fly 
in any danger or alarm, hiding there in our soul's 
nest until the storm be overpast. There are no 
castles in this world so impregnable as the words 
of Christ. 



(4) 



January 5. 

We must work the works of him that sent me, while 
it is day : the night cometh, when no ma7i can work. — 
St. John ix. 4. 



w 



all sent from God to take some specific part 
in blessing the world. To do this we have just a 
day of time. A day is a brief time. It is a fixed 
time. When the sun comes to his going down, no 
power in the universe can prolong his stay for one 
minute. 

Yet the day is long enough for God's plan. The 
sun never sets too soon for his purpose. Each life 
is long enough for the little part of the world's work 
allotted to it. This is true even of the infant that 
lives only an hour, merely coming into this world, 
smiling its benediction, and flying away. It is true 
of the child, of the young man or young woman, of 
him who dies in the maturity of his powers with his 
hands yet full of unfinished tasks. No one can ever 
offer as an excuse for an unfinished life-work that 
the time given to him was too short. It is always 
long enough, if only every moment of it be filled with 
simple faithfulness. 

To have our work completed at the end, we must 
do it while the day lasts, for there will be no oppor- 
tunity afterward. If we are living earnestly, we shall 
live all the time under the pressure of the conscious- 
ness that the time is short. We must not waste 
nor lose a moment. Soon it will be night, when we 
cannot work. 

(s) 



January 6. 

The pillar of cloud removed from before them, and 
stood behind them. — Exodus xiv. 19. 

IT is not always guidance that we most need. 
Sometimes we must stand still, with danger 
all around us, and then God goes behind us to 
shelter us. He always suits himself to our need. 
When we require guidance, he leads us. But when 
we need protection, he puts himself between us and 
the danger. 

There is something very striking in this picture 

— the* divine presence moving from before, and 
becoming a wall between Israel and their enemies. 
There are some mother-birds — storks, for instance 

— which cover their young with their own body in 
time of peril, to shield them, receiving the dart 
themselves. Human love often interposes itself as 
a shield to protect its own. On the cross, Jesus 
bared his bosom to receive the storm of wrath, that 
on his people no blast of the awful tempest might 
strike. 

But not only does Christ put himself between us 
and our sins ; he puts himself also between us and 
danger. The Lord God is our shield. Many of 
our dangers come upon us from behind. They are 
stealthy, insidious, assaulting us when we are un- 
aware of their nearness. The tempter is cunning 
and shrewd. He does not meet us full-front. It 
is a comfort to know that Christ comes behind us 
when it is there we need the protection. 



(6) 



January 7. 

Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where 
neither moth nor rust doth consume. — St. Matt. vi. 20. 

SELF-DENYING economy in order to "lay up 
for a rainy day " is universally commended. 
By just so much more as the object is higher, is it 
commendable to economize in order to " lay up 
treasures in heaven." We really have only what 
we have used well for Christ. When one has 
learned this secret of banking in heaven, one has 
the true philosopher's stone which turns everything 
to gold. The simplest possessions are transformed 
into eternal things. A threadbare coat becomes a 
robe of righteousness, a last year's bonnet a crown 
of glory, when worn in self-denying economy for 
Christ's sake. We should live always for the high- 
est and best things. 

Look high, O soul ! for what is earth but dust, 
The fleeting shadow of the better things? 
The heavens are thine, if thou wilt use thy wings, 

And sighs are songs, if thou wilt only trust. 

Aim high, O soul ! for on the higher forms 
Is always room, while lower ranks are filled; 
Who climbs the heights finds all earth's noises stilled, 

And a sweet calm and light above the storms. 

Be high, O soul ! scorn what is low and base; 
"Child of a King " they call thee; be a king, 
And troops of vassals will their tribute bring, 

To crown thee heir of glory, child of grace. 



Henry Burton. 



(7) 



January 8. 

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command 
you. — St. John xv. 14. 

THERE is something very sweet in the thought 
that we may be Christ's friends, and that he 
opens all his heart .to us. " The secret of the Lord 
is with them that fear him." This means that if 
we are Christ's friends, he takes us into the closest 
intimacy. Not many of us realize all that is possi- 
ble in the way of companionship with Christ. If 
we are on terms of unhindered friendship with him, 
we can indeed talk with him freely, intimately, as 
friend with friend. 

" How does he talk with us ? " some one asks. 
A heathen convert said, " When I pray, I talk to 
Christ ; when I read my Bible, Christ speaks to 
me." If we live close to Christ, the words of Scrip- 
ture are very plain to us ; Christ himself indeed 
speaks to us in them. 

There was a godly man in Germany, named Ben- 
gel, who was noted for his intimacy with Christ. A 
friend desired to watch the saintly man at his de- ' 
votions. So he concealed himself one night in his 
room. Bengel sat long at his table reading his 
New Testament. The hours passed. At length the 
clock struck midnight, and the old man spread out 
his hands, and said with great joy, " Dear Lord 
Jesus, we are on the same old terms." Then clos- 
ing his book he was soon in bed and asleep. He 
had learned the secret of friendship with Christ. 



(8) 



January 9. 

Trade ye herewith till I come, — St. Luke xix. 13. 

WE are doing business in this world for Christ. 
Each one of us has something of his, a 
pound which he has intrusted to us to trade with 
as his agent. Our life itself, with all its powers, its 
endowments, its opportunities, its privileges, its 
blessings, its possibilities, is our pound. Our life is 
not our own. We are not in this world merely to 
have a good time for a few years. Life is a trust. 
We are not done with it either when we have lived 
it through to its last day. We must render an ac- 
count of it to him who gave it to us. Our business 
is to gather gains through our trading with our 
Lord's money. We are required to make the most 
that is possible of our life. 

People often speak of the solemnity of dying. 
It is a grave and serious matter, but it is a great 
deal more solemn thing to live. Dying is but 
giving back into God's hand his own gift, — life ; 
and if we have lived well, -dying is victory, glory, 
the trampling of life's opaque dome to fragments, 
as our soul bursts into real and full life and blessed- 
ness. It is living that is serious and solemn. Life 
to its last particle is our Lord's property, intrusted 
to us to be used so that it shall grow. Then comes 
the judgment. We shall have to look up into our 
Lord's face, and tell him what we have done with 
his pound. We shall be expected to return our 
trust, not only kept safe, but enhanced in value. 



(9) 



January 10. 

llie first came before him, saying, Lord, thy pound 
hath made ten pounds more. — St. Luke xix. 16. 

WE always find these ten-pound servants among 
the followers of Christ. They are those 
Christians who, from the very beginning, strive to 
reach the best things attainable in life through 
divine grace. They are not content with being 
merely saved from sin's guilt, with being mere mem- 
bers of the church. They make their consecration 
to Christ complete, keeping nothing back. They set 
their ideal of obedience to their Lord at the mark 
of perfectness, and slack not in their striving till 
they reach the mark in heaven. They seek to follow 
Christ wholly, fully, with their whole heart. They 
accept every duty without regard to its cost. They 
seek to be like Christ, imitating him in all the 
elements of his character. They give their whole 
energy to the work and service of Christ. They lie, 
like John, on the Master's bosom, and their souls 
are struck through, as .it were, with the Master's 
loving spirit. 

So these men and women grow at last into a 
saintliness, a spiritual beauty, and a power of use- 
fulness and influence, by which they are set apart 
among Christians, shining with brighter lustre than 
other stars in the galaxy of the church. Their one 
pound has made ten pounds more. Their high 
spiritual attainment has been won by their diligent 
and wise use of the pound with which they began. 

(10) 



January 11. 

Lord, thy pound, Lord, hath made five pounds. — 
St. Luke xix. 18. 

CHRIST gives into no man's hand at the begin- 
ning of his life a finely trained, fully developed 
mind. The great poets and writers of the world 
began with only one pound. There was capacity 
for growth, but that was all Christ gives to no 
one at the start a noble, full-statured, rich, trans- 
figured Christian character, with spiritual graces 
all blossoming out. The most saintly Christians 
began with very little saintliness, very little spiritual 
power. The most useful men in the church began 
with a very small and imperfect sort of usefulness. 

Those whose influence for good now touches 
thousands of lives, and extends over whole com- 
munities, or fills an entire country, had nothing to 
begin with but one little pound of capacity which 
the Master intrusted to them. This is the principle 
on which all our Lord's gifts are distributed. He 
puts into our hands a little at first ; and as we use 
what we have, and gain experience, and show ability, 
and prove faithful to our trust, he adds more and 
more, giving us all we can use well, and as fast as 
we can use it. 

" By thine own soul's law learn to live ; 
And, if men thwart thee, take no heed; 
And, if men hate thee, have no care; — 
Sing thou thy song, and do thy deed ; 
Hope thou thy hope, and pray thy prayer, 
And claim no crown they will not give," 

(«) 



January 12. 

They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; 
they shall run, and not be weary ; they shall walk, and 
not faint. — Isaiah xl. 31. 

THE source of strength in any life must be God. 
It is only when we are co-workers with him 
that we are unconquerable. If we would be strong, 
therefore, able to resist sin, able to do valiant battle 
for the truth, able to touch other lives with healing, 
uplifting influences, we must abide in Christ. Then 
his strength shall be in our heart and in our arm. 

It is told of General Gordon, that each morning, 
during his journey in the Soudan country, for half 
an hour there lay outside his tent a white handker- 
chief. The whole camp knew well what it meant, 
and looked upon the little signal with the utmost 
respect ; no foot dared cross the threshold of that 
tent while the little guard lay there. No message, 
however pressing, was to be delivered. Matters of 
life and death must wait until the white signal was 
taken away. Everybody in the camp knew that 
God and Gordon were communing together. Sweet 
is the communion of the spirit that obtains near- 
ness to its God. Powerful is the influence of the 
soul that hourly longs to draw near to its God and 
drink in the inspiring draughts of his presence. 

" Behind the dim unknown 
Standeth God within the shadow, 
Keeping watch above his own." 

(12) 



January 13. 

Whosoever is fearful and trembling let him return. — 
Judges vii. 3. 

THOUGH God wanted only a few men, he 
wanted the best. So the first thing was to 
weed out the incompetent. The army would be 
stronger with all these sent home than with them 
all hanging on. There were twenty thousand cow- 
ards ; and the ten thousand brave men would be 
stronger alone than the thirty thousand, having 
the timid thousands among them. 

Timidity is infectious. Many a church would be 
stronger if it were weeded out just as Gideon's 
army was. Its weakness lies in its great numbers, 
not because numbers necessarily weaken, but be- 
cause there are so many half-hearted people on the 
roll. They have lost their interest, if they ever had 
any, and are indifferent, without thorough conse- 
cration. They add no strength, but only hinder 
the other members and dampen their zeal. 

"This sword and shield were surely never given 
To save my life alone in sin's fierce fight; 
I dare not stand and see my comrades driven 
Back in defeat, their columns rudely riven, 

And strike no blow for God, their souls and right. 

I dare not come to Jesus with my sighing, 

To find in him eternal peace and rest, 
And, unmoved, witness brothers round me dying, 

And timid souls before sin's arrows flying, 
And place no shield of faith above their breast." 

(13) 



January 14. 

And with every living creature that is with you. — 
Genesis ix. 10. 

IT is strange how God's care extends even to 
beasts. This covenant was not with man only, 
but with all the animal creation as well. Think of 
God making a covenant with the cattle that roam in 
the valleys, the sheep that graze in the meadows, 
the birds that fly in the air, and even with the in- 
sects that chirp in the fields. Yet that is what he 
did. We know, too, that this divine care is real. 
There are other promises which contain the same 
assurances. 

" He givelh to the beast his food, 
And to the young ravens which cry." 

Then our Lord said, " Consider the ravens, that 
they sow not, neither reap ; which have no store- 
chamber nor barn ; and God feedeth them." God 
cares for birds. There is a promise, too, for the 
flowers. " Consider the lilies how they grow ; they 
toil not, neither do they spin." Yet God clothes 
therm Jesus says. 

" In the thickest wild, in woodland bowers, 
By the wayside everywhere, 
The plainest flower of all the flowers 
Is shining with thy care." 

Of course the lesson for us from all this is the 
one which Jesus taught. If God cares for the birds 
and flowers, how much more will he care for his 
own children ! Therefore we ought to trust him 
without fear. 



January i5. 

/ do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a 
token of a covenant between me and the earth. — Gen- 
esis ix. 13. 

THERE can be no rainbow unless it is raining. 
So we cannot see the brightest glory of God's 
grace without entering into the experiences of trial. 
We can learn the full preciousness of the divine 
promises only in the circumstances of need for 
which they were given. 

A young friend told me that she had seen richer 
revealings of the love of Christ in the weeks she 
had been in her sick-room than in all the former 
years of her life. Words of God which she had 
known from childhood had flashed out then for 
the first time in the rich splendor of their meaning. 
There had been no clouds in her life before — all 
was health and happiness, and she had not seen 
the rainbow hues. 

The same is true of all the divine comforts ; we 
never can know the best of their meaning until the 
sorrow comes in which they are meant to give 
strength. A beatitude reads : " Blessed are they 
that mourn : for they shall be comforted." We 
cannot receive the comfort until we mourn. Every 
Christian who has passed through sorrow under- 
stands this. In the deepening darkness the lights 
in the heavenly promises flashed out bright and 
clear, showing him for the first time the fulness of 
their blessed comfort. 

(*s) 



January 16. 
Be thou perfect. — Genesis xvii. i. 

" T)ERFECTION is impossible." we are in the 

X habit of saying : and therefore we do not try 
to reach perfection. It is better for us always to 
keep our aim high, although we cannot hope to 
reach it. If we have low ideals, our attainments 
will be low. We cannot look with approval upon 
anything lower than the perfect beauty of God him- 
self, and not have the beauty of our own life dimmed 
thereby. We should always keep perfection before 
us as our aim. We should keep our eyes ever fixed 
upon the perfect model. Jesus said, " Be ye there- 
fore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven 
is perfect." We are always to seek to model our 
life upon the divine pattern. 

Of course we cannot reach this lofty standard in 
a day. but the way to gain perfection is to strive 
toward it. When a child begins to write, his scrawl- 
ing lines fall far short of the beauty of the copy at 
the top of the page. Book after book he fills with 
his uncouth chirography ; but if he is diligent, each 
new page shows a little improvement, and by and 
by his writing rivals the copy. We can learn to 
live sweetly only in the same way. Begin where 
you can. no matter how imperfect or faulty your 
life, but strive ever toward perfection, and at last 
you shall be like Christ. That is the hope which 
shines before us — we shall see him as he is. and 
shall be like him. 

(16) 



January 17. 

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities ; who healeth all 
thy diseases ; who redeemeth thy life from destruction ; 
who crowneth thee with lovingkifidness and tender 
mercies ; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, — 
Psalm ciii. 3-5. 

WHAT an enumeration of divine blessings this 
is ! Any one of them is worth more than 
all earth's treasures combined. If we are not for- 
given, we must rest forever under the burden of 
sin, a weight greater than all the Alps ; but God 
forgives, forgives all our sins, and forgives fully 
and forever. If we are not healed, we must be 
sick forever, sick with the plague and leprosy of 
sin ; but God heals, and heals all our diseases, 
heals completely. If we are not saved from the 
dangers of this world, we never can reach heaven ; 
but God keeps, rescues, redeems, our life from all 
impending destructions. 

Earth's crowns are made of thorns, and at the 
best are only what the children call play-crowns, 
for they are but of leaves that wither, or of gold 
and gems that will not last ; but God crowns his 
people with crowns of lovingkindness and tender 
mercies, which are real and radiant, which shall 
never fade, but shall shine forever, becoming 
crowns of eternal life and glory in heaven. This 
world cannot satisfy a heart's cravings. Its pos- 
sessions only make the hunger more intense ; but 
God satisfies the souls of his people, meets all 
their cravings and hungers. 

(^7) 



January 18. 

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain 
thee. — Psalm lv. 22. 

THERE are some mistaken notions current con- 
cerning the ways in which God would help 
us. People think that whenever they have a little 
trouble, a bit of hard path to go over, a load to 
carry, a sorrow to endure, all they have to do is 
to call upon God, and he will at once take away 
their sorrow, or free them from the trouble. But 
this is not the way God helps us. His purpose of 
love concerning us is, not to make all things easy 
for us, but to make something of us. 

When we pray God to save us from our care, to 
take the struggles out of our life, to make the paths 
mossy, to lift off every load, he will not do it. It 
would be most unloving in him to do so. We must 
carry the burden ourselves ; all God promises is to 
sustain us as we carry it. He wants us to learn 
life's lessons, and to do this we must be left to 
work out the problems for ourselves. There are 
rich blessings which can be gotten only in sorrow. 
It would be short-sighted love indeed that would 
heed our cries, and spare us from sorrow, and thus 
deprive us of the wonderful blessings which can be 
gotten only in sorrow. God is too good to us to 
answer our prayers, which would save us from pain, 
cost, and sacrifice to-day, at the price of larger, 
better, truer life in the end. He would not rob us 
of the blessing that is in the burden, which we can 
get only by carrying it. 

(18) 



January 19. 

He knoweth our frame ; he remembereth that we are 
dust, — Psalm ciii. 14. 

GOD does not treat us as if we were strong, holy, 
and unfallen. He does not forget that we are 
weak, that it is hard for us to live right, that we are 
easily tempted and overcome. He is very patient 
and gentle with us when we have sinned, binding 
up our wounds, restoring our soul. He does not 
lay upon us loads too great for us, for he knows 
how weak we are. He gives us help, too, with our 
burdens, that we need not faint under them. 

We ought to get a great deal of comfort out of 
these words. You say you are so weak that you 
cannot resist temptation. Does not God know it ? 
Will he not help you to overcome ? You are weary 
through trouble or burden-bearing, but Gods knows 
all about it. You find your work hard, and cannot 
see how you are ever to get through with it ; but 
God understands. He knows how frail you are ; 
he remembers that you are only dust. He is pitiful, 
and gives always needed help. 

Yet keep me ever in thy love, 
Dear Father, watching from above, 
And let me still thy mercy prove, 
And care for me. 

Oh, still in summer's golden glow, 
Cast me not off from all my sin, 
But make me pure and true within, 
And teach me how thy smile to win, 
Thy care for me. 

Marianne Farningham. 

(19) 



January 20. 

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am 
meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest u?ito 
your souls. — St. Matthew xi. 29. 

WE have to learn to live, if ever we live worthily. 
No one becomes a fine player on the piano 
without learning. No one can take a piece of can- 
vas, with palette, paints, and brushes, and at once 
make a great picture. 

Life itself is not easier than music or painting. 
We must learn to live ; and the lessons are hard, re- 
quiring long years of patience and practice. But we 
ought to learn the lesson, whatever the cost may be. 

Life is a sacred trust. We are accountable for it 
to God who gave it to us. We are required to 
make the most of our powers, training them to 
their best capacity ; by self-discipline getting the 
perfect mastery of our being, then doing the things 
which we were made to do. Yet many people never 
seriously try to learn to live. This is unworthy a 
being endowed with immortality and sent forth 
on a divine errand. We should live in a way which 
will not shame us when we come to the end. 

Man's life is but a working day, 

Whose tasks are set aright : 
A time to work, a time to pray, 

And then a quiet night. 

And then, please God, a quiet night, 

Where palms are green and robes are white, 
A long-drawn breath, a balm for sorrow, — 
And all things lovely on the morrow. 

Christina G. Rossetti. 
(20) 



January 21. 

Whosoever would become great among you, shall be 
your minister ; and whosoever would be first among you, 
shall be your servant. — St. Matthew xx. 26, 27. 

THERE are some people with a little measure 
of " position " who seem to accept all favors 
shown to them, and all services rendered to them 
by others, as due to them because of their exalted 
rank or their exceeding importance among men. 
They stand upon their dignity, and in effect demand 
attention and a degree of subserviency from their 
plain, ordinary fellow-men. They complain if by 
any accident they appear not to receive their due 
meed of honor. They seem to feel that their high 
place among men entitles them to a great deal of 
consideration, and they are hurt if they do not get it. 
It would seem, however, in the light of our Lord's 
teaching, that the truly greatest among men are 
those who are most ready to serve. The spirit just 
described is scarcely, therefore, a mark of real 
greatness in Christ's eye, but a mark of littleness. 
All self-seeking is littleness. The law of service is 
taken from the very heart of God ; nothing else 

is great. 

The secret of life — it is giving; 

To minister and to serve; 
Love's law binds the man to the angel, 

And ruin befalls if we swerve. 
There are breadths of celestial horizons 

Overhanging the commonest way; 
The clod and the star share the glory, 

And to breathe is an ecstasy. 

Lucy Larcom. 

(21) 



January 22. 

Not to be ministered unto, but to minister. — St. 
Matthew xx. 28. 

THE art of photography is now so perfect that 
the whole side of a great newspaper can be 
taken in miniature so small as to be carried in a 
little pin or button, and yet every letter and point 
be perfect. So the whole life of Christ is photo- 
graphed in one little phrase — " not to be ministered 
unto, but to minister." He came not to be served 
— if this had been his aim he would never have 
left heaven's glory, where he wanted nothing, where 
angels praised him and ministered unto him. He 
came to serve. He went about doing good. He 
altogether forgot himself. He served all he met who 
would receive his service. At last he gave his life 
in uttermost service — giving it a ransom for others. 
He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. 
You say you want to be like Christ. You pray 
him to print his own image on your heart. Here, 
then is the image. It is no vague dream of perfec- 
tion that we are to think of when we ask to be made 
like Christ. The old monks thought that they were 
in the way to become like Christ when they went 
into the wilderness, away from men, to live in cold 
cells or on tall columns. But that is not the thought 
which this picture suggests. " To minister " — that 
is the Christlike thing. Instead of fleeing away 
from the world we are to live among men, to serve 
them, to seek to bless them, to do them good, to 
give our life for them. 

(22) 



January 23. 

No longer do I call you servants . . . I have called 
you friends. — St. John xv. 15. 

IF we ask, " What is the best that Christ's friend- 
ship can be to any soul ? " we may answer, 
"It is shelter, comfort, rest, inmost refreshment, 
guidance, and far more. Christ is an atmosphere 
about us, an atmosphere of love, warm with all 
tender influences, all healthful inspirations, all holy 
impulses. Christ as our friend comes into all our 
life, so really, so fully, that he becomes " an uncon- 
scious part of every true beat of our heart." As 
the summer sunbeams enter into the flowers, and 
reappear in their lovely hues and sweet fragrance, 
so does the very life of Christ enter into the lives 
of his friends, and permeate and transform them, 
until they become like him in spirit, in character, 
in disposition, in every feature. 

We know what Christ's friendship was to his 
disciples. He found them rude, and left them re- 
fined. He found Matthew a publican, unjust, grasp- 
ing, an outcast, and made him an apostle, then a 
writer of a Gospel. He found Peter profane, rough 
in manner, impetuous, and made him an eloquent 
preacher, a man of marvellous power, whose influ- 
ence lives to-day wherever the Christian church has 
gone. He found John a son of thunder, with strong, 
fiery resentments, and made him the apostle of love, 
the human embodiment of all the sweet, gentle, 
tender graces of his own life. The same the friend- 
ship of Christ can do for us. 

(23) 



January 24. 

Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt 
live. — St. Luke x. 28. 

THAT is just the trouble with a great many 
people. They can answer right. They know 
all about their duty. They can repeat with glib 
tongue text after text of Scripture. They can recite 
catechism and creed without missing a word, and 
like to boast of their thorough familiarity with these 
sacred formularies. But it is the doing that troubles 
them. They know the commandments, but they fail 
to keep them. They can quote any number of texts 
about honesty and truthfulness, yet they are neither 
honest nor truthful. They like to talk about the 
love of Christ, which is meek, gentle, patient, and 
compassionate, but they do not think of getting any 
of this spirit into their own life. They recite texts 
about sending the gospel to the heathen, and make 
addresses about saving the lost, but neither give 
money nor make any personal effort to save others. 
If doing were as easy as knowing, how good we 
should all be ! Would it not be a beautiful thing 
for us to try to live all the duty we know ? 

Be what thou seemest ; live thy creed ; 

Hold up to earth the torch divine; 
Be what thou prayest to be made; 

Let the great Master's step be thine. 

Sow love, and taste its fruitage pure; 

Sow peace, and reap its harvest bright; 
Sow sunbeams on the rock and moor, 

And find a harvest-home of light. 

Bonar, 

(24) 



January 25. 

I have called you friends ; for all things that I heard 
from my Father I have made known unto you. — St. 
John xv. 15. 

ONE of the marks of a noble nature is open- 
heartedness. Jesus gave it as the chief privi- 
lege of friendship with him that he would make 
known to his friends all that his Father had told 
him. That is, full, trusting confidence is the deep- 
est, truest thing in the highest and best possible 
friendship. Soul and soul should be thoroughly- 
united in two friends. 

Two gentlemen lived in houses adjoining each 
other. Their back yards were separated by a fence. 
A warm friendship grew up between the two fami- 
lies ; and soon that fence came down, and the chil- 
dren played together alike in both yards. True 
friendship pulls down the fences between lives. 

Therefore a secretive man can never be a friend, 
nor have a friend at more than a few points. He is 
afraid to let his friend know what he knows, what 
he has been doing, what he is intending to do. 
Secretiveness is narrow, hindering, cramping. It 
is like living in a cell. It robs one's own life of 
sweet blessings which it might get from others, and 
it robs others of pleasures and benefits which it 
might give to them. The secretive man has not yet 
learned the meaning of the sweet word about the 
open-heartedness of the Master toward his friends, 
which he would have them repeat toward other 
Christians. 

(25) 



January 26. 

Unto him that is able to do exceeding abunda?itly 
above all that we ask or think. — Ephesians iii. 20. 

GOD often does better for us than we ask. We 
go to him with our little requests. We are 
in want, and ask for temporal relief. We are suffer- 
ing, and ask that our pain may cease. We are 
poor, and ask him for more money. We are just 
like the beggar, holding out our hands for paltry 
alms to eke out the day's need. Then God looks 
down upon us and says, " My child, are these little 
trifles all you want me to give to you, — daily bread, 
raiment, fuel for your fire, medicine for your sick- 
ness, comfort for your grief, the small things to 
supply your common needs, — are these the only 
gifts and blessings you want and ask from the hand 
of your heavenly Father, who has infinite treasures 
to give to you ? " 

Yet thousands never get beyond just such re- 
quests in their praying. Bowing daily before a God 
of infinite power and love, in whose hands are un- 
searchable riches, they never ask for anything but 
passing earthly comforts and good things. They 
ask only for things for their bodies, or to beautify 
their homes, making no requests for the heavenly 
and spiritual gifts God has for their souls. We 
should learn to ask for the best things in all God's 
power to give. We should not be content to seek 
even what we ourselves can choose, but should ask 
God to choose for us, and to give us his best things. 

(26) 



January 27. 

Happy is the man that fi?ideth wisdom. — Prov- 
erbs iii. 13. 

IT is worth our while to study what the Bible says 
about happiness and how to get it. Most 
people want to be happy, but there are many who 
miss the mark. 

Yet those who follow the Bible rules for happi- 
ness will never be disappointed. " Happy is the 
man that findeth wisdom." Wisdom is a large 
word. It is not merely knowledge. A man may 
know so much that he is a walking encyclopaedia, 
and yet not be happy. He may pursue knowledge 
into all its nooks and hiding-places, dig it out of the 
rocks, extract it from the minerals, gather it from 
flower and plant, draw it down from among the 
stars, and yet not find happiness. Knowing a great 
many things does not make one wise. 

Wisdom is knowledge applied to life. He has 
found wisdom who has learned to live well. To 
live well is to live according to God's laws, which 
are summed up in one word love — love to God 
and love to man. No one is happy who does not 
recognize God and do his will. " The fear of the 
Lord is the beginning of wisdom." No one can 
be really happy who does not love his fellow-men. 
Happiness never is found in selfishness. Those 
who seek it in thinking, toiling, and striving only 
for themselves will have a vain quest. It never lies 
that way. He only has found wisdom who has 
found rest in Christ. 

(27) 



January 28. 

The a?igel of God . . . went before the camp of 
Israel. — Exodus xiv. 19. 

THIS angel was revealed in the form of cloud 
and fire. It was wonderful guidance which 
God gave to his people in their marches. By day 
the pillar of cloud sheltered them, and then by 
night the same cloud was light. By day it was 
shelter, by night it was light. And always it was 
guidance. When they were to move, it lifted and 
went in advance, to lead them. When they were to 
halt and rest, it settled down, thus giving them the 
signal to pitch their tents. 

This was miraculous guidance ; but we have God's 
presence just as really, though without a visible 
pillar to lead us. God guides his people by his 
word, by his providence, by his Spirit. If we are 
willing to follow unquestioningly, we shall never be 
left long in perplexity as to the way we should take. 
Our guidance is given to us only as we will accept 
it and shape our course by it. 

Nor is the guidance given in maps and charts, 
showing us miles and miles of the road ; it is given 
only step by step as we go on. " Order my steps " 
is a Bible prayer, and we sing : — 

" Lead, kindly Light ! amid the encircling gloom, 

Lead thou me on; 
The night is dark, and I am far from home; 

Lead thou me on; 
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see 
The distant scene; one step enough for me." 

( 2 8) 



January 29. 

When the soles of the feet of the priests . . . shall 
rest in the waters . . . the waters . . . shall be cut 
off. — Joshua iii. 13. 

THERE must be faith first. The priests must 
take up the ark and walk with it down into 
the flowing stream before the waters would be cut 
off. They did not see a path across the river before 
they started. They broke up their camps and began 
their march while there was no sign of any crossing- 
place. If they had walked down to the edge, and 
then stopped to wait for the path to be opened, it 
would not have been opened. If they had lifted 
their feet and held them over the water, waiting for 
its flow to cease, they would have waited in vain. 
They must take one step into the water before the 
current would be cut off. They must move on as if 
the way were open, believing that it would be open. 
We must learn to take God at his word and go 
forward in duty, though we see no way by which 
we can go forward. The reason we are so often 
balked by difficulties is because we expect to see 
them removed before we venture to pass through 
them. If we would move right on in faith, as soon 
as our feet touch the brim the waters would flow 
away and leave a path. A great many people stand 
on the edge of the Christian life, waiting for feelings, 
before they will begin to follow Christ. If they 
would but begin to follow him, the way would open 
before them. 



(29) 



January 30, 

All things were made by him ; and without him was 
not anything made that hath been made. — St. John i. 3. 

WE like to look at a beautiful piece of workman- 
ship, and remember that some loved friend 
of ours fashioned it. This makes it more precious 
and sacred. 

Some orphan children had been received into an 
institution, and were exchanging their old garments 
for new ones. One poor boy was seen picking up 
the wretched cap he had been wearing, and tearing 
out of it a piece of faded silk that had been sewed 
into it. He was asked why he wanted to keep the 
patch ; and he said, his eyes full of tears, that his 
mother had sewed it into his old cap with her thin 
white fingers when she was on her death-bed, and 
he wanted to keep it in remembrance of her. 

Men prize old paintings, and pay large prices for 
them, because they were painted by some famous 
master. All the works of nature would be sacred 
to us, if we but remembered that our Saviour made 
them. The sweet flowers in the field would be all 
the sweeter, if we only thought as we look upon 
them, " The hands of Christ painted them. ,, 

The Lord is in his holy place 
In all things near and far; 
Shekinah of the snowflake he, 
And glory of the star; 
And secret of the April-land 
That stirs the field to flowers, 
Whose little tabernacles rise 
To hold him through the hours. 

William C. Gannett. 

(30) 



January 31. 

In him was life ; a?id the life was the light of men. 
— St. John i. 4. 

LIFE is a mystery. We can note its manifesta- 
tions, but we cannot find its source. We see 
that a man lives — we see it in his actions ; but we 
cannot tell what it is that keeps the heart beating, 
beating, beating, without pause, for sixty, seventy, 
years. We can read the poet's lines, and look at 
the artist's pictures, and hear the musician's songs; 
but what do we know of the inner mental life that 
produced the poem, the pictures, the songs ? It is 
hidden life. 

So spiritual life is hidden. We see one supported 
in quiet peace, amid great trial ; another comforted 
into sweet acquiescence in a bitter sorrow ; another 
living purely and nobly amid sore temptations ; an- 
other lifted up out of degradation, and transformed. 
We cannot understand the processes ; we see only 
the effects. So all life is mysterious. 

But we know that it all comes from Christ. He 
is the fountain of all life. No human genius, skill, 
or power has ever been able to produce life of any 
kind, even a living blade of grass or a little violet. 
Still less can any human power give new life to a 
dead soul. Only Christ can do this. We must get 
our life from him. 

" Teach me to live and find my life in thee, 

Looking from earth and earthly things away; 
Let me not falter, but untiringly 

Press on, and gain new strength and power each day." 

(31) 



February 1. 

And 7 will establish my covenant with you ; neither 
shall all flesh be cut off a?iy more by the waters of 
the flood. — Genesis ix. n. 

SCIENCE now explains so many things which 
devout people in the past loved to look upon 
as the very acts of God, that some have begun 
to wonder whether after all our Father really has 
anything to do with nature. But what is nature ? 
It is God's handiwork. The powers that work so 
mightily in earth and air, God put there. Can 
these powers be greater than he who lodged them 
in his works ? We need never fear that any scien- 
tific discovery .shall show us a universe without 
a God. We know, too, that the God who controls 
all the forces and energies of nature, holding all in 
his hands, is our Father. 

During a great freshet, when houses, barns, out- 
buildings, and fences were swept away in the wild 
current, some men in a skiff saw a baby's cradle 
borne along in the stream. Rowing to it, they 
found in it, sleeping as quietly and sweetly as it 
had ever slept in its mother's bosom, a little baby. 
So, in the wildest floods of earth, God cares for his 
little ones. He is Lord of all the forces of nature. 
Not a drop of water, even in angriest billows, ever 
breaks away from the control of God. Natural 
law ! — Yes, but natural law is only the leash of 
divine control which is held firmly in the hand of 
God. No wild tempest ever sweeps beyond the 
" Hitherto " of our Father. 

(32) 



February 2. 

When I bring a cloud over the earth . . .• the bow 
shall be seen in the cloud, — Genesis ix. 14. 

SO always, too, in spiritual life, whenever a cloud 
is in the sky the rainbow appears on the cloud, 
the rainbow of divine promise, of God's love and 
grace. We are accustomed to say that every cloud 
has a silver lining, and the saying is true. In other 
words, every dark providence has a bright, shining 
side. As God sees it, there is a blessing in it. It 
is not always true that we can see the rainbow on 
the cloud ; sometimes we can see only gloom and 
shadow. But faith can always be sure of good in 
every trial, in every sorrow, in every loss, even 
when the natural eye cannot see it. " We know 
that all things work together for good to them that 
love God." 

Some day we shall know that many of our best 
blessings have come to us out of our sorrows. In 
the Book of Revelation we are told that there is 
a rainbow about the throne of God and the Lamb 
in heaven, which would seem to be a suggestion 
that God's covenant is not for earth only, but also 
reaches forward into the blessed life beyond. Per- 
haps our richest blessings in heaven will be from 
earth's sorrows. 

Lord, I had chosen another lot, 
But then I had not chosen well ; 
Thy choice and only thine is good; 
No different lot, search heaven and hell, 
Had blessed me, fully understood ; 
None other which thou orderest not. 

Christina G. Rossetti. 

(33) 



February 3. 

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the 
knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgme?its, 
and his ways past traci?ig out ! — Romans xi. 33. 

OUR knowledge is limited. We see only little 
fragments of truth. We are like children on 
the shore of the sea, gathering a few pebbles and 
shells, while the ocean's depths are hidden from us. 
Says Zophar : — 

Canst thou by searching find out God? 
Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? 
It is high as heaven ; what canst thou do? 
Deeper than Sheol ; what canst thou know? 

Job himself, speaking of God's works in nature 
and in providence, adds : — 

Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways : 

And how small a whisper do we hear of him? 

But the thunder of his power who can understand? 

We ought to learn the lesson. God is not a man 
— one of ourselves. If we could understand him, 
he would not be God. His greatness puts him 
beyond our comprehension. We cannot hope to 
know the reasons for his acts. Some of his ways 
with us are strange ways. We are perplexed ; we 
say, " God cannot love me or he would not do these 
things." We should learn to trust God even in the 
deepest mysteries, not expecting to understand, but 
sure of his love and goodness even when it is dark- 
est and when his face is veiled in most impenetra- 
ble mists. We should be silent unto God when we 
cannot understand. That is the truest faith. 

(34) 



February 4. 

He answered, Fear not : for they that be with us 
are more than they that be with them. — 2 Kings 
vi. 16. 

IT is not enough just to put on a bold face and 
compel ourselves to be brave or appear brave. 
It will not do merely to try to make ourselves think 
there is no danger, when we know very well that 
there is danger. We cannot play tricks on our- 
selves. The true secret of confidence and fearless- 
ness in danger is faith in the divine keeping, not 
in thinking there is no peril. " In the world ye 
have tribulation : but be of good cheer ; I have 
overcome the world.'' 

The great truth to be learned by all who would 
acquire true moral courage is. the reality of God's 
care for his people in all their dangers. The nine- 
tieth and the one hundred and twenty-first psalms 
describe this care. " The Lord is thy keeper." 
" The Lord shall keep thee from all evil." " He 
that keepeth thee will not slumber." I have slept 
in a camp with armed enemies on all sides ; but I 
was not afraid, for I knew that waking sentinels 
formed a complete circle all around the camp. So 
in any danger we may feel safe because God wakes 
and watches. 

Then shall thy tossing soul find anchorage 

And steadfast peace; 
Thy love shall rest on his; thy weary doubts 

Forever cease; 
Thy Keart shall find in him, and in his grace, 

Its rest and bliss. 

Bonar. 

(35) 



February 6. 

Go now, see whether it be well with thy brethren. 
. — Genesis xxxvii. 14. 

JOSEPH left his home in good spirits. We can 
imagine his good-by as he set out. The fam- 
ily would see him off, expecting him to fare well 
and to return again in good time. Not one of them 
dreamed that it would be twenty years before they 
should see his face again. If they had imagined 
this, then their parting that morning would have 
been very tender. 

We never know when we say farewell at our door 
to the friends we love, as they or we go out for a 
time, that we shall ever see them again. We should 
always say good-by, even for the briefest parting, 
with thoughtfulness and with love's warmth, for we 
may never clasp hands with them any more. Cov- 
entry Patmore writes : — 

If thou dost bid thy friend farewell, 

But for one night though that farewell may be, 

Press thou his hand in thine. 

How canst thou tell how far from thee 

Fate or caprice may lead his steps ere that to-morrow comes? 

Men have been known lightly to turn the corner of a street, 

And days have grown to months, 

And months to lagging years, ere they 

Have looked in loving eyes again. 

Parting at best is underlaid 

With tears and pain ; 

Therefore, lest sudden death should come between, 

Or time, or distance, clasp with pressure firm the hand 

Of him who goeth forth : 

Unseen, fate goeth too. 

(36) 



February 6. 

He that humbleth hi??iself shall be exalted. St. 
Luke xiv. n. 

HUMILITY is an excellent grace. It is the 
empty hand which God fills. Self-conceit is 
weakness. We are strongest when we distrust our- 
selves, and are thus led to lean upon God. Empti- 
ness is the cup into which God puts blessing. 
Faith is simply letting God work in us and with 
us. Pride leaves no room for the divine strength. 
But there is a danger also in self-distrust. It 
sometimes makes a person shrink from duty. It 
almost wrecked the mission of Moses. A little 
more excusing of himself, and God probably would 
have left him with his sheep in the wilderness, seek- 
ing some other man to bring. Israel out of Egypt. 
No doubt many persons have failed altogether of 
the mission for which they were sent into this world 
through a like feeling of unfitness for the work. 
When God clearly calls us to undertake any task, 
we should never raise the question of ability. He 
would not call us to it if we could not do it. 

If we bravely resolve to do our part, 
And bear our griefs with a patient heart 

And free from all repining, 
We shall be led to a higher way, 
To a better work than we do to-day, 

And find love's sunlight shining; 
For truth of spirit and strength of soul 
Will make the darkest cloud unroll, 

And show its silver lining. 

Helen Keith. 

(37) 



February 7. 

In the world ye have tribulation : but be of good 
cheer ; I have overcome the world. — St. John xvi. $Z- 

THE word tribulation is very suggestive. It 
comes from a root which means a flail. The 
thresher uses the flail to beat the wheat sheaves 
that he may separate the golden wheat from the 
chaff and straw. 

Tribulation is God's threshing — not to destroy 
us, but to get what is good, heavenly, and spiritual 
in us separated from what is wrong, earthly, and 
fleshly. Nothing less than blows of pain will do 
this. The evil clings so to the good, the golden 
wheat of goodness in us is so wrapped up in the 
strong chaff of the old life, that only the heavy 
flail of suffering can produce the separation. 

Suffering is like John Baptist, wearing grim gar- 
ments, with stern visage and rough hands and a 
baptism of bitter tears, uttering sharp, harsh words, 
going before Christ to prepare us for his gentle 
coming and his message of love. Many of us would 
never enter the gates of pearl were it not for this 
unwelcome messenger, pain. 

Though the rain may fall and the wind be blowing, 

And cold and chill is the wintry blast; 
Though the cloudy sky is still cloudier growing, 

And the dead leaves tell that summer has passed ; 
My face I hold to the stormy heaven, 

My heart is as calm as the summer sea, 
Glad to receive what my God has given, 

Whate'er it be. 

E. N. Taylor. 

(38) 



February 8. 

Which is your reasonable service. — Romans xii. i. 

A CHRISTIAN man had quoted this verse, ur- 
ging those whom he had addressed to present 
their bodies to God as a living sacrifice. When 
he closed, a good Friend who sat beside him said, 
" Friend John, the next time thee quotes that verse, 
thee would better quote all of it." 

" Didn't I quote it all ? " 

" No ; thee left off the last words — ' which is your 
reasonable service/ That is very important." 

The old Quaker was right. We would better 
quote the whole verse. It is not an unreasonable 
thing that God asks us to do when he beseeches 
us to present ourselves to him as a living sacrifice. 
He is our Father, and we are his children ; is it 
unreasonable that a child shall be asked to do a 
father's will ? We may think of our redemption, 
and remember at what tremendous cost Christ 
bought us, and then of all the blessings and hopes 
that are ours through his sacrifice for us. Is it 
unreasonable that we should be asked to conse- 
crate our lives to God when he has done such 
things for us ? We may think, too, of what will 
be the result if we do not yield ourselves to God 
— that our lives will be lost in sin's darkness; and 
of the good that will come to us through devoting 
ourselves to him — eternal life and blessedness. 
Is it, then, unreasonable that we should be called 
to make this presentation of ourselves to God ? 

(39) 



February 9. 

Would that we had died by the ha?id of the Lord 
in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, — 
Exodus xvi. 3. 

IT is a sad thing when we allow life's disappoint- 
ments to make us despondent. The problem 
of Christian living in this world is not to escape 
experiences of hardship, but to retain sweetness 
of spirit in all such experiences. When the snows 
melted away after the long winter, a little plant 
was seen looking up into the warm, blue sky, as 
fresh, tender, and full of life, as if it had passed 
the cold months in a conservatory. Under the 
great drifts it had hidden, cosey and warm, and 
was ready at the first coming of spring to burst 
into the full vigor of fragrant life. 

That is a picture of the way every Christian life 
should pass through the sorest winter of adversity. 
That is not the way many people do endure. You 
must sometimes go from "the cool shade and gur- 
gling waters of Elim out into the hot desert. You 
must have hardships, losses, sorrows. But see to 
it that you retain* through all these a heart gentle 
as a little child's, and full of trust and hope. Then 
when the winter is past and the spring comes, as 
spring always does come after the longest winter, 
you will emerge unharmed, with even richer life, 
tenderer beauty, and deeper joy. The secret of 
such victorious living is a trust in God that never 
fails. 

(40) 



February 10 

She hath done what she could. — St. Mark xiv. 8. 

A CHILD offered a teacher a handful of weeds 
and grasses, wilted and soiled, and said, " Here 
is a bouquet for you." The teacher saw the love in 
the child's eyes, and accepted the gift with sincere 
gratitude. So it is that Christ accepts our home- 
liest gifts or services, if he sees love in our heart. 

There is a story of a poor Arab, who came to a 
spring of pure water in the desert, and filled his 
leather bottle to carry it to the caliph. The caliph 
received the gift, and, pouring some of the water 
into a cup, drank it, thanking the Arab and reward- 
ing him. The courtiers pressed forward, eager to 
taste the water, but the caliph forbade them. When 
the Arab had departed, the caliph told his courtiers 
why he had forbidden them to taste the water. In 
the long journey it had become distasteful. He 
knew that if any of the men should taste it they 
would show their disgust, and thus hurt the poor 
man's feelings. The Arab had brought his present 
all the long journey, with great toil and care, and 
because he loved the caliph. He did not know the 
water had become unwholesome, and the caliph 
wished him to have his pleasure unmarred. 

This illustrates the spirit with which Christ re- 
ceives the gifts and services of those who love him. 
The gifts may be worthless, and the services may 
avail nothing, but for the love that prompts them, 
he accepts them with real gladness, and richly re- 
wards them, 

(40 



February 11. 

And brought that which they had spun. — Exodus 
xxxv. 25. 

MANY young ladies make beautiful things, but 
do not bring them to Christ. They keep 
them for their own adornment. But these women 
brought their fine handiwork to the Lord. They 
spun beautiful threads to be woven into the curtains 
and embroideries of the tabernacle. Christian girls 
and women may help in many ways in preparing 
dwelling-places for God. They can make a place 
for him in their own heart. They can put touches 
of beauty into the lives of others. It needs not 
great things, but only service of truth filled with 
love, to please God. The threads may be coarse, 
but in God's eye they will be beautiful if love spins 
them. 

It is not the deed we do, 

Though the deed be never so fair, 
But the love that the dear Lord looketh for, 

Hidden with lowly care 

In the heart of the deed so fair. 

The love is the priceless thing, 

The treasure our treasures must hold, 

Or ever the Lord will take the gift, 
Or tell the worth of the gold 
By the love that cannot be told. 

Behold us, the rich and the poor, 

Dear Lord, in thy service draw near; 

One consecrateth a precious coin, 
One droppeth only a tear; 
Look, Master, the love is here ! 

Christina G. Rossetti. 

(42) 



February 12. 

That I may prove them, wJwther they will walk in 
my law, or no, — Exodus xvi. 4. 

EVERYTHING God gives or sends to us proves 
us in some way. Trials prove us, whether we 
will submit with humility and patience to the ex- 
periences that are sore and painful, and learn the 
lesson set for us in them. But none the less do the 
favors of life prove us. They test our gratitude. 
Do we remember God all the time as the Giver of 
each new blessing ? They test our faith. Do we 
still lean on him while we have plenty ? Often- 
times the trust that turns to him when help is 
needed, fails to look to him when the hand is full. 
They also test our obedience. Sometimes when 
our wants are all supplied we forget our obligation 
to serve God. Thus every day is a probation. We 
are always on trial. 

" We are weaving every day, as we pass along our way, 
Intent upon our busy work, or just as busy play, 
Beneath the casual gaze of men, the angels' steady eyes, 
The robes of resurrection in which we shall arise. 

Then the threads we sadly spun, and in darkness one by one 
Wove in the fabric, wishing that the long, hard task was done, 
Shall gleam and glimmer as a mist of lovely rose and blue, 
And the blacker threads of sorrow shall be made lovely too. 

The glimmering glints of gold from a patience manifold 
Shall make a pattern sweet and strange, and beauteous to 

behold; 
And the white of purity shall shine, the tear spots fade away, 
As we don our resurrection robes upon that last great day." 

(43) 



February 13. 

Stand still, that I may plead with you before the 
Lord concerning all the righteous acts of the Lord. — 
i Samuel xii. 7. 

IT is good to stand still sometimes, and look back 
over the way by which God has led us. Of 
one thing we may always be sure — all God's deal- 
ings with us are right. Some of them may seem 
hard. We all have our trials, disappointments, sor- 
rows, sufferings, our cups of bitterness. There is 
no way in which we can see goodness in all these 
experiences, save by faith in the unfailing righteous- 
ness of God. Yet a firm conviction of this truth 
brings peace in the darkest hour. God cannot be 
unloving. He is our Father. 

" I see the wrong that round me lies, 

I feel the guilt within; 
I hear with groans and travail-cries 

The world confess its sin. 
Yet, in the maddening maze of things, 

And tossed by storm and flood, 
To one fixed truth my spirit clings — 

I know that God is good.'' 

It does us good to stand before God at times, and 
look back over our life, and see all our experiences 
in the light of the love that streams from his face. 
We cannot understand — all seems strange and dark; 
yet we know God is righteous, and righteousness is 
goodness. If we firmly believe this all through life, 
whatever may come, faith will live, and its light will 
shine as a bright star in the blackest midnight. 

(44) 



February 14. 

Thou art my hiding place. — Psalm xxxii. 7. 

GOD is a hiding-place from all sorts of dangers. 
He is a hiding-place from sin. His mercy 
is an eternal refuge. "There is therefore now no 
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." 

God is a refuge from trouble. " God had one 
Son without sin, but he has none without sorrow." 
Where shall we go to get away from sorrow ? There 
is no place on earth into which it never enters, no 
Eden bower, no Paradise, where grief never comes. 
But there is a hiding-place to which sorrowing ones 
can flee, and where they will find comfort that shall 
give them peace. " In the world ye shall have trib- 
ulations ; " " in me ye shall have peace," said Jesus. 
The sorrow may not be shut out, but the divine 
peace comes into the heart and calms it. Sorrow 
is seen then as God's messenger of love, sent by him 
on some good errand, and is accepted in faith. So 
in the pain and loss there is no more fear. The 
sufferer has found a hiding-place in God. 

God is a hiding-place from danger. In the wildest 
terrors and alarms we can run to him, and, lying down 
in his bosom, be safe. A Christian sailor said that 
even if his ship went down into the sea he would 
be safe ; for God holds the waters in the hollow of 
his hand, and he would only fall into his Father's 

hand. 

" Death's cold wave need not affright us 
When we know that he has died, 
When we see the face of Jesus 
Smiling on the other side." 

(45) 



February 15. 

His compassions fail not. They are new every morn- 
ing ; great is thy faithfulness. — Lamentations iii. 

22, 23. 

IT is the glory of God's love that it is always fresh 
and new. It is never the same in its expression 
any two days. We have to patch up our old things 
and keep them, using them again and again ; but 
God never does. He never gives us the old leaves 
a second time ; each spring every tree gets new 
foliage, new garments of beauty. He does not 
revive last year's withered flowers, and give them 
to us again for this year ; he gives us new flowers 
for each summer. 

So he does with his messages of love — they are 
not repeated over and over again, always the same 
old ones. Every time the reverent heart reads the 
Bible, its words come fresh from the lips of God, 
always new. They never get old. They are like 
the water that bubbles up in living streams from 
the depths in the wayside spring, always fresh, 
sweet, and new. 

So it is with the blessings of prayer. Morning 
by morning we kneel before God, seeking his bene- 
diction and favor. He does not give us always the 
same blessing, but has a new one ready for each 
new day. Our needs are not the same any two 
mornings when we bow before him, and he always 
suits the blessing to the need. We are taught to 
live day by day. God's goodness comes to us new 
every morning. 

(46) 



February 16. 

The ki?ig and nis men went to Jerusalem against the 
Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. — 2 Samuel 
v. 6. 

THE Jebusites still held a hill-top in the heart 
of the country, never having been dislodged. 
There are Jebusites in every Christian community, 
and also in every Christian heart. For example, 
there is worldliness, which has its Jebusites every- 
where. In the midst of a community containing its 
beautiful Christian homes, sanctuaries, and refine- 
ments, one finds a licensed drinking-saloon. It is 
so intrenched there, too, that it seems impossible 
to dislodge it. There are many other such citadels 
of evil, which rear their proud towers and defy 
conquest. 

In every heart, too, there are little Jebusite hills, 
which it long seems impossible for good to conquer. 
Sometimes it is a secret sin which lives on amid the 
general holiness of a life, refusing to submit to the 
sway of the grace of God. Sometimes it is a rem- 
nant of the old nature, — pride, wilfulness, weakness, 
selfishness, or bitterness. " We all have our faults," 
we confess with penitence, and under this veil we 
manage to tuck away a large number of dear idols 
that we do not want to give up. We ought to give 
attention to these unsubdued parts of our life, that 
every thought, feeling, and temper may be brought 
into subjection to Christ. It is perilous to leave 
even one such unconquered stronghold in our heart. 
It may cost us dearly in the end. 

(47) 



February 17. 

This he said to prove him : for he himself knew 
what he would do. — St. John vi. 6. 

JESUS is continually proving his disciples, putting 
them to the test to draw out their faith. He 
is constantly bringing before us cases of need, 
sorrow, and trial, to prove us. He wants to draw 
out our love, our sympathy, our tenderness, and 
train us to do the works of love which he leaves 
us in this world to do. 

The disciples thought they could not feed the 
multitude before them, yet Jesus meant that they 
should do it. Their little, blessed and then used, 
proved quite enough. We think we cannot answer 
the needs, sorrows, and hungers that appeal to us ; 
but we can if we will. Christ wants us to go forth 
to minister in his name to all whom he sends to us. 
We do not appear to be able to do much. But even 
our few words spoken kindly, our tears of sympathy, 
our expressions of love, Christ can use to do great 
good to the faint and the weary hearts before us. 
We must never say of any appeals that come to us, 
"We cannot do anything." To our word of power- 
lessness, when we have a bidding of duty, Jesus 
only answers, " Give ye them to eat ; " and we must 
go out to feed them though we seem to have only 
a crumb or a crust to give. 

Then arise, and seek to follow 

Where the voice of duty leads; 
Give thyself to works of mercy, 

Loving thoughts, and kindly deeds. 

C. A. Means. 

(48) 



February 18. 

Gather up the broken pieces which 7'emain over, that 
nothing be lost. — St. John vi. 12. 

"TT 7ASTE not, want not," says the proverb. It 
VV seems remarkable that he who so easily 
could multiply the five loaves into an abundant meal 
for thousands should be so particular about saving 
the fragments. But he would teach us economy. 
No matter how great our abundance, we should take 
care of the fragments. After we have fed at our 
tables, there are hungry people who would be glad 
of the pieces that are left. 

This applies also to the fragments of time. Many 
busy people waste whole years of time in their life, 
in the minutes which they lose every day. If at the 
end of a year they could gather up all these frag- 
ments, they would have many basketfuls of golden 
time in which they might do much good. 

So of our strength : many persons waste their 
bodily energy, using it in sport, or play, or useless 
exercise, when it belongs to God, and ought to be 
employed to its last particle for his glory. We 
should not waste our affections by allowing them to 
be given to unworthy objects or persons. There is 
no limit to the application of this principle. We 
must give account of everything we have, even 
the minutes of time, the little fractions of strength, 
and the smallest bits of bread on our tables. 

" A single word is a little thing, 

But a soul may be dying before your eyes 
For the lack of the comfort a word may bring, 
With its welcome help and its sweet surprise.'' 

(49) 



February 19. 

Jesus took the loaves ; and . . . distributed to the dis- 
ciples, and the disciples to them that were set down. — 
St. John vi. n. 

•/^HRIST himself wrought the miracle, but he 
V_y did it through his disciples. That is his 
usual way. When he wants to take care of a lit- 
tle baby, and train it for a worthy mission, he puts 
a portion of his own love and gentleness into a 
mother's heart, and commissions her to train the 
child for him. 

When he wanted to give his word to the world, 
he did not speak directly from heaven, but put the 
thoughts into the lips of holy men to speak them 
for him. When he wants now to send his grace to 
a sinner, he does not command an angel from his 
throne, nor come himself in form of majesty, but 
sends the message through a saved one. 

The disciples that day stood between Christ and 
the multitude, and so Christ's disciples always do. 
If they had merely eaten of the bread themselves, 
and had not passed it to the hungry multitude, the 
people would have starved, though provision was in 
the disciples' hands, enough to feed them all. If 
we who have the gospel bread only feed ourselves 
with it, and do not carry it to perishing sinners, 
they will die in their sins — not because there is 
no salvation for them, but because we have not 
taken the salvation to them. 

"Then only we live, 
When we feed one another, as we have been fed." 

(50) 



February 20. 

Lord, evermore give us this bread. — St. John 
vi. 34. 

THAT was a good prayer. It is just the prayer 
for each one of us, every day. But the people 
who made it first did not know what they were 
asking. 

It is often so in our praying. We have a dim, 
glimmering vision of something very beautiful, but 
it is only a shadowy vision to us. The thing we 
think we want is not the thing at all that God had 
in mind in his promise. He meant something most 
worthy, but we have in our mind the thought of 
something material and earthly. It is well that we 
have an Intercessor into whose hands all our re- 
quests must pass, who will take our poor, mistaken 
prayers and interpret them aright for us, giving us, 
not what we thought we would get, but something 
better, diviner. 

Abraham sought all his life for a country which 
he never received. But he got something better 
in his unavailing search — his faith was growing all 
the while ; his thoughts and hopes were turned to 
spiritual things, of which the earthly possessions he 
sought were only shadows. So it is in the disap- 
pointments of our praying : what we seek we find not, 
but meanwhile we are getting blessings a thousand 
times better. On weary paths of earth where we toil 
in search of supposed blessings, we are really rising 
step by step on invisible stairs, and reaching blessings 
of which the earthly illusions were only pictures. 

(51) 



February 21. 

He still holdeth fast his integrity, although thou 
movedst 7?ie against hi?n, to destroy him without cause. 
— Job ii. 3. 

IT is a noble thing when a man stands steadfast 
and faithful to God in the midst of trials and 
adversities. Such a man is like a mighty rock 
under the beatings of the angry waves of the sea. 

Thus Job stood. Trial after trial came. His 
property was swept away by marauders and by 
fire, and his children were crushed by falling walls, 
until in a little while he was stripped of all he had, 
and left a childless man. His heart was broken with 
sorrow, but his faith failed not. The Lord kept his 
eye upon his servant, and was pleased to see how 
trustingly he endured his losses and sorrows. 

The affliction of Job, as described here from the 
divine side, suggests to us what may ofttimes be 
the reason for trouble in the lives of God's chil- 
dren. Job suffered in order to prove to a scoffing 
adversary the genuineness of his religion. Job did 
not know why these sore losses came upon him. 
We do not know, when we are in trouble, why God 
sends or permits the affliction. But we should 
always bear ourselves so as to honor God, and 
prove the reality and sincerity of our faith. We are 
set to witness to the power of divine grace in trial, 
and should not fail God nor disappoint him. Xo 
duty of ours is more sacred than being true to God 
in pain and trouble. To murmur or complain is to 
sin. 

(52) 



February 22. 

What ? shall we receive good at the hand of God, 
and shall we not receive evil ? — Job ii. 10. 

TOO often weak faith is moved from its stead- 
fastness by trials. People say, " God cannot 
love me, or he would not send this affliction upon 
me." Job's answer, however, shows nobler faith. 
We take good, earthly good, from God's hands. 
We believe that God loves us so long as he showers 
upon us favors, and gives us pleasant things, joys 
and prosperities. Very well ; when he changes the 
form of his providence, and gives us troubles instead 
of favors, should we conclude that he no longer 
loves us ? 

In the case of the change in his treatment of 
Job, we are permitted to look within the heart 
of God, to learn what his feelings were, and we 
see that he had never loved his servant more 
than when he was allowing him to suffer so sorely. 
At the close of the first trial, Job said, " The Lord 
gave, and the Lord hath taken away." The same 
Lord that gave, took away ; yes, and the same love. 
God knows best what we need any particular day, 
and what will most advance the kingdom of Christ ; 
and we ought to trust him so implicitly, so unques- 
tioningly, that whether he gives a new favor or 
takes one away ; whether he grants us our request 
or withholds it ; whether he bestows upon us earthly 
good or causes us to suffer loss and adversity — we 
shall still believe and say, " God loves me, and he is 
blessing me." 

(53) 



February 23. 

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth. — 
Job v. 17. 

HE is not happy at the time. No one enjoys 
having troubles, sufferings, sorrows. There- 
fore this word appears very strange to some people. 
They cannot understand it. It is contrary to all 
their thoughts of happiness. Of course, the word 
happy is not used here in the world's sense. Hap- 
piness is the pleasure that comes from the things 
that happen. It depends on personal comfort, 
on prosperous circumstances, on kindly and con- 
genial conditions. When these are taken away the 
happiness is destroyed. 

But the word here means blessed ; and the state- 
ment is, that blessing comes to him who receives 
God's correction. To correct is to set right that 
which has been wrong. Surely if a man is going 
in the wrong way, and God turns his feet back and 
sets him in the right way, a blessing has come to 
him. Afflictions are God's corrections. They come 
with a purpose of love in them. They are hard to 
accept, but afterward the blessing is revealed. 

For life seems so little when life is past, 

And the memories of sorrow fleet so fast, 

And the woes which were bitter to you and to me 

Shall vanish as raindrops which fall in the sea ; 

And all that has hurt us shall be made good, 

And the puzzles which hindered be understood, 

And the long, hard march through the wilderness bare 

Seem but a day's journey when once we are there. 

Susan Coolidgk. 

(54) 



February 24. 

/ know that thou canst do all things, 
And that no purpose of thine can be restrained. 

Job xlii. 2. 

WE cannot do what we would. Many of our 
purposes are restrained. We desire to 
do good and beautiful things, and we try, but our 
achievements fall far below our thought. Our clumsy 
hands cannot fashion the loveliness our hearts dream. 
Our faltering weakness cannot do the brave things 
our souls aspire to do. No artist ever paints on his 
canvas all the beauty of his ideal. No singer ever 
expresses all the music that burns within him as he 
sings. No eloquent orator ever utters all that he 
feels as he pleads for truth or for justice. 

So in all our life we do only a little of what we 
strive to do. We set out in the morning with pur- 
poses of usefulness, of true living, of gentle-heart- 
edness, of patience, of victoriousness ; but in the 
evening we find only little fragments of these good 
intentions wrought out. 

But God's intentions are all carried out. No 
power can withstand him or balk his will. It was 
in this thought that Job found peace in his long, 
sore trial. All things were in God's hands, and 
nothing could hinder his designs of love. Our 
God is infinitely strong. In all earthly confusions, 
strifes, and troubles, his hand moves, bringing good 
out of evil for those who trust in him. He can 
execute all his purposes of good. He is never 
hindered in blessing his children. 

(55) 



February 25. 

/ would order my cause before him. — Job xxiii. 4. 

JOB had confidence that God was his Friend, and 
that if he could stand before him and tell him 
all about his life, it would be well with him. Every 
Christian may have the same confidence. This 
does not mean that we have no sins, and that we 
can appear in God's presence and explain our acts 
to him and show him that we have done nothing 
wrong. We are sinners, and we can come before 
him only with penitence and confession. But when 
we come thus, and cast ourselves on his love and 
mercy, we may order our cause before him without 
fear, not pleading innocence, but pleading the grace 
of Christ. We know that God is pitiful toward our 
infirmities. Knowing all about us, he yet loves us 
with a love that is infinitely gracious. 

"Like as a father pitieth his children, 
So the Lord pitieth them that fear him. 
For he knoweth our frame; 
He remembereth that we are dust." 

A still sweeter truth than that which is uttered 
here is that we have One who can order our cause 
before God, and who will always find acceptance for 
us. " If any one sin," said the beloved disciple, 
" we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus 
Christ, the righteous." We may go to God always 
in his name, sure that in his hands all our interests 
will be safe, for he ever liveth to make intercession. 
Our cause will never suffer in the hands of him 
who died for us. 

(56) 



February 26. 

Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power ? 
Nay ; but he would give heed unto me, — Job xxiii. 6. 

JOB was sure that if he could only get to God he 
would find in him a friend. He had been 
learning more and more of God's real nature, and 
had at least some thought of the true character of 
the mighty God. Especially does he seem to have 
gotten some glimpses of the divine Redeemer who 
was his Friend. Thus a few chapters back he 
says : — 

" I know that my Redeemer liveth: 
That he shall stand, survivor over the dust; 
And after rriy skin is gone, they will rend this body, 
And I, from my flesh, shall see God: 
Whom I shall see, I, for myself, 
And mine eyes shall behold, a stranger no more." 

Just how much Job really did know of the charac- 
ter of God we cannot tell. He certainly believed 
now that if he could come before God he would 
meet a friend. We live in full gospel light, and we 
know that God is our truest and best friend; that 
he is our Father ; that we need never fear to make 
an appeal to him. He is not against us. His al- 
mighty power is not used to oppose us, to break us 
and crush us. He gives heed unto our cry. He 
loves us. All his omnipotence is on our side. No 
mother's heart was ever so full of love for her 
child as is the heart of God for us, his children. 
We know that God's thoughts toward us are kindly 
— thoughts of peace. 

(57) 



February 27. 

He hideth himself . . . that I cannot see him. But 
he knoweth the way that I take. — Job xxiii. 9, 10. 

GOD is invisible, and we cannot see him. We 
know that he is working here and there, and 
we turn quickly to find him, but our eyes get no 
glimpse of him. We cannot lay our hand upon 
him. We cannot see his face. Yet we know that 
while he is not visible to our sight he sees us al- 
ways and knows our way — where we are, what we 
are doing, what our circumstances and experiences 
are. 

"He knoweth." One evening Jesus sent his dis- 
ciples out upon the sea in the boat, to go to the 
other side, but he did not go with them. In the 
night a great storm arose, and the disciples were 
alone. They were in sore distress. We can ima- 
gine them looking to the right and to the left, for- 
ward and back, but they could not find their Master. 
Meanwhile, however, though unseen by them, he 
was looking down upon them in tender love from 
the mountain-top. He knew the way that they took 
in the darkness on the sea. 

In our experience it may often be that we cannot 
find God ; that we cannot see him ; that he shall 
elude our search, not answer to our cry, and not 
come when we call for him. Yet it is a precious 
comfort that in all such cases he knows the way 
that we take, where we are, and what we are suf- 
fering. We are never out of his sight. Always 
"he knows/' and that is enough. 

(58) 






February 28. 



The Lord turned the captivity of Job, 7vhen he prayed 
for his friends. — Job xlii. 10. 

A GREAT many people who try to be com- 
forters only lay thorns under aching heads. 
No art needs a more delicate touch than the com- 
forter's. The hands of most of us are too rough to 
be laid on throbbing hearts. No wonder Job felt 
that his friends were miserable comforters, or that 
he was not at first in a mood to pray for them. 
But until he could pray for them, blessing could 
not come to him. 

The lesson is for us. Others may have injured 
or grieved us in some way, and we may not be 
ready to forgive them. But while we feel so, we 
are shutting divine blessing away from ourselves. 
Job's praying at length for his friends showed that 
his heart was now softened toward them, that he 
had forgiven them. Then blessing came to him. 
When we can pray for one who has wronged us, 
misjudged us, or said unkind things of us or to us, 
hurting us in some way, we are in a condition to 
receive blessing from God. 

Job was also ready now to come out of his own 
sorrow to try to help others. We do not find com- 
fort by staying in the darkness of our own grief, by 
thinking only of it; we must forget ourselves, and 
begin to serve others and seek their good, before we 
can find the light of God's comfort. Selfishness in 
sorrow is — selfishness, and selfishness in any form 
misses God's blessing. 

(59) 



February 29, 

This I confess imto thee, that after the Way which 
they call a sect, so serve I the God of our fathers. — 
Acts xxiv. 14. 

IT is easy enough when we are in meetings of 
Christians to be known as one of them. But 
Christ wants us to confess him just as distinctly 
when we are among his enemies. If any one sneers 
at us as Christians, we should not blush and hang 
our head, and stammer out an apology, or, far worse, 
a denial. We should be ready, without bravado, 
modestly and humbly, yet boldly, to admit that we 
are Christians, and to do it in such a way as to 
show that we rejoice in our relation to Christ, and 
in confessing it. 

Miss Havergal tells of going into a boarding- 
school as a pupil just after she had united with the 
church. She was startled to find that in a school 
family of a hundred she was the only Christian. 
Her first feeling was that she could not avow her 
love for Christ with all that company of worldly 
girls around her. But her second thought was that 
she could not but avow it, since she was the only 
one Christ had there to represent him. This 
thought was most strengthening, and from that 
hour she quietly took her place as a friend of 
Christ. It ought to help us, whenever we stand 
amid enemies of Christ, to remember that he has 
put us there to represent him, and that if we are 
ashamed or afraid, we shall be sadly failing and 
disappointing him. 

(60) 



March 1. 

Quit you like men, be strong. — i Corinthians 
xvi. 13. 

GENTLENESS and good temper are not all. 
One may have these qualities and yet be 
lacking in the completeness of well-rounded char- 
acter. There must be strength as well as beauty. 
Love is the fulfilling of the law ; all the command- 
ments being summed up in one, "Thou shalt love." 
But love is a large word. It is like one of those 
composite pictures into which many pictures are 
blended. All the elements of duty to God and to 
our fellows are wrapped up in the divine conception 
of loving. It will not do, therefore, for us to take 
merely the things that belong to the gentle side, and 
think of these as the whole of Christian character. 
Christ was infinitely gentle. The warmth of his 
heart made a tropical summer all about him. But 
back of the gentleness was also infinite strength. 
We must be like him, not only in gentle warmth, 
but also in truth and all righteousness. We must 
be to others, not only tenderness, but also strength 
to lean upon, and stability in which they may find 
refuge. 

They whose hearts are whole and strong, 
Loving holiness, 

Living clean from soil of wrong, 
Wearing truth's white dress, — 

They unto no far-off height 
Wearily need climb, 

Heaven to them is close in sight 

From these shores of time. 

Lucy Larcom. 

(61) 



March 2. 

Ye . . . are now light in the Lord : walk as chil- 
dren of light. — Ephesians v. 8. 

THE tendency to morbidness which shows itself 
in some people is most unhealthy. In some 
it is habitual ; a disposition to gloom has been per- 
mitted to have its way so long that now the feel- 
ings run, even unimpelled, in melancholy grooves. 
In others it is temporary, caused by loss or trial, 
the life requiring some time to react after its shock 
of grief, and rebound to its wonted cheerfulness. 
The latter experience is not so unwholesome, be- 
cause it is transient ; but the former, wherever it 
exists, should be treated as a mental disease, and 
subjected to the wisest processes of cure. It is 
destructive of the life's beauty. It mars one's use- 
fulness. It grieves God, for it is practical unbe- 
lief. 

Why should one persist in refusing the blessing 
of God's bounteous sunshine, and walk only in 
gloomy paths ? Why should one close windows 
and doors and live in darkness when God's glory 
of light flows everywhere ? The morbid person 
should heroically set himself the task of getting rid 
of his miserable gloom. It may take time ; for 
when darkness has become ingrained in the soul 
it can yield but slowly to the influence of light. 
Yet the task should be achieved. To stay in the 
shades of melancholy is most unchristian. 

" What can it help us to bewail 
Each painful moment as it flies ? 

(62; 



March 3. 

And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, 
and into the patience of Christ. — 2 Thessalonians 
iii. 5. 

WE need the patience of Christ to keep us 
from over-helping others. No peril is 
greater than this too eager love, when brought close 
to those who are in need. We would help too much 
or too soon. We would lift away burdens that God 
would have the person carry longer for his own 
good. We would make the way easy that would 
better be left hard. We would hasten the learning 
of the lesson that could far better be learnt slowly. 
We would force the bursting of the flower before 
the time God has appointed, thus spoiling his per- 
fect work. 

We want to hurry the spiritual development of 
lives, not content to wait till the development comes 
naturally. There are hundreds of lives hurt by the 
impatience of good people to do them good. One 
writes, and we would do well to mark the lesson : — 

" Nerve his arm and cheer his heart; 
Then stand aside, and say, ' God speed ! ' " 

If we would be truly helpful to others, we must 
never try too hard to help. It is hard for us, in our 
eagerness to help, just to do our little, and then 
stand aside and let God work. We feel we ought 
to be doing something ; but in truth our doing is 
only hurtful intermeddling, and we would far better 
keep our hands off. 

(63) 



March 4. 

He answered her ?iot a word. — St. Matthew 
xv. 23. 

WHO has not come to Christ with a burden, 
crying out for help or for relief, only to 
find him silent ? To many of our earnest supplica- 
tions he seems to answer not a word. We are told 
to ask and we shall receive, to seek and we shall 
find, to knock and it shall be opened unto us. Yet 
there come times when we ask imploringly, and do 
not seem to receive ; when, though we seek with 
intense eagerness, we do not seem to find what we 
seek ; when we knock at the door of prayer till our 
hands are bruised and bleeding, and there is no 
opening of the door. 

Sometimes the heavens seem to be brass above 
us ; and we ask, " Is there anywhere an ear to hear 
our pleadings ? Is there anywhere a heart to feel 
sympathy with us in our overwhelming need ? " 
Sometimes God seems to be far off, so far that our 
cries cannot reach him. Nothing is so awful as this 
silence of God — the feeling that communication 
is cut off. Few prayers in the Bible are more 
pathetic than that in the psalm : " Be not silent 
to me, lest I become like them that go down into 
the pit." Anything from God, any punishment, is 
better than his silence. 

Oh, it would be a dreary world, if the atheist's 
creed were true, — that there is no God, no ear to 
hear prayer ; that no voice of answering help, or 
love, or comfort, ever comes out of the heavens. 

(64) 



March 5. 

A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax 
shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto 
victory, — St. Matthew xii. 20. 

IT is a high honor that is conferred upon us when 
God sends to us human hearts to be comforted 
or human souls to be helped. Yet every thoughtful 
person must tremble as he accepts the responsibil- 
ity of such delicate and holy work. It is a serious 
moment when there is brought to a surgeon a case 
on the skilful treatment of which a life depends, or 
when a physician stands by a bedside to administer 
remedies at the crisis of a fever. But it is a far 
more serious moment when a human life is put into 
one's hands to be cured of its faults or comforted 
in its sorrow, or to have its heart's wounds healed. 
We need divine skill and wisdom, and great delicacy, 
for such sacred work. Only Christ can teach us how 
to deal with human lives in their need and sorrow. 
He has a most gentle touch. He binds up with 
infinite skill the wounds that sin or grief has made. 
He never breaks a bruised reed. He will give us 
skill in dealing with hurt lives. 

Ask God to give thee skill 

In comfort's art, 
That thou mayst consecrated be 

And set apart 
Unto a life of sympathy. 
For heavy is the weight of ill 

In every heart; 

And comforters are needed much 

Of Christlike touch. 

A. E. Hamilton. 

(65) 



March 6. 

/ long to see you, that I may impart unto yoii some 
spiritual gift. — Romans i. ii. 

TT ^E ought always to desire to be a blessing to 
\ \ those we love. God sends many of his 
best spiritual gifts through human hearts and hands. 
There could be no litter morning prayer, as we go 
out for the day, than that we may be permitted to 
carry some help, comfort, instruction, inspiration, 
courage, or cheer to every life that our life touches. 
There are always those who need such help. Xo 
aim in life is nobler than to be a help to others in 
all gentle, quiet ways. 

We should make sure, too, that it is the best we 
have that we impart to others. There are times 
when the best thing we can do for a man is to make 
him laugh. But there are other gifts which we 
should seek to impart. Sometimes it is cheer to 
a disheartened spirit. Sometimes it is comfort for 
sorrow. Sometimes it is the inspiration of a fresh 
thought which we have found. We should make 
sure at least that to every one we meet we are 
ready to impart some gift which will do him good. 

" As we meet and touch each day 
The many travellers on our way, 
Let every such brief contact be 
A glorious, helpful ministry: 
The contact of the soil and seed, 
Each giving to the other's need, 
Each helping on the other's best, 
And blessing, each, as well as blest." 

(66) 



March 7. 

A stranger will they not follow, but will' flee from 
him : for they know not the voice of strangers, — St. 
John x. 5. 

IT is true of sheep in the East, that while they 
quickly respond to their names when their own 
shepherd calls them, because they know his voice, 
yet if a stranger comes to the door of the fold and 
calls them by the same names, they will be alarmed 
and will turn and run. It ought to be so with 
Christ's sheep. They should be quick to hear and 
know their own Shepherd's voice whenever he calls. 
They should never be afraid when they recognize 
his call, though it be in the darkness of sorrow 
or of trial. But they should also be quick to detect 
any voice that is not their own Shepherd's. 

Such voices do fall continually upon the ears 
of Christ's friends. There are temptations which 
would lure them away from the truth into paths of 
wandering, which lead to sin and end in death. 
There are false guides who profess to be true, and 
to be very much wiser than the old-fashioned, true 
guides whom Christ has set to be under shepherds ; 
and they want the young to turn away with them 
from the old ways. Everywhere the " voice of 
strangers " is heard. The sheep flee from the 
voice of strangers, knowing it is not their shep- 
herd's ; every voice which is not known to be 
Christ's should alarm the Christian, causing him 
to run quickly to his own Shepherd for shelter 
and protection. 

(67) 



March S. 

So Abram ivcnt* as the Lord had spoken unto him. 
— Genesis xii. 4. 

THAT was faith. Obedience proved it. Abram 
did not know where he was going : he had 
simply the call of God and a promise. But he 
asked no questions. He did not insist on know- 
ing how his journey would come out. how profit- 
able it would be. just what he would get in 
exchange for the land he was leaving and the 
sacrifice he was making. Quietly, without ques- 
tion or hesitation, he rose, cut the ties that bound 
him to his old home, and was off. 

That is the kind of faith all of us should have 
whenever God gives us a call and a promise. Some 
people want to see where they are going before they 
will begin to follow Christ : but that is not walking 
by faith at all. 

" I do not ask I 
The distant scene ; one ste| . r me." 

We should not trouble ourselves to know where we 
are to be led. if only we know that God is leading 
us. His guidance is safe : and we should be willing 
to trust him. do precisely what he says, and go just 
where he leads, without asking any questions. Abra- 
ham's life is a picture of a true " walk with God." 

I think I could go forward with brave and joyful he 

Though every step should pierce me with unknown hery smart, 

If only I might see thee, if I might j:.ze above 

On all the cloudless glory of the sunshine of thy love. 

:es R. Havergal* 

^6S) 



March 9. 

Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask, 

— St. Matthew xx. 22. 

IT was an ignorant prayer which the brothers had 
offered. They did not know what they were 
asking for. We know that one dark day two male- 
factors had the places on the Lord's right and 
left hand. We all ask many a time for things 
which we would not dare seek if we knew what 
they would cost. 

There is a heathen story which tells us that once 
a man asked for this gift — not to die ; and it was 
granted him by the Fates. He was to live on for- 
ever. But he had forgotten to ask that his youth 
and health and strength also might last forever-, and 
so he lived on till age and its infirmities and weak- 
nesses were weighing him down, and his life grew 
to be a weariness and a burden to him. Existence 

— for it could hardly be called life — was one long 
torment to him ; and then he wished to die — wished 
to die and could not. He had asked for a thing 
which he was totally unfit to enjoy, but he had to 
take the consequences of it when it was once given. 

In our prayers we seek things which we might 
shrink from seeking, if we knew that they must 
come to us through pain, tears, and loss. The 
better way to' pray, however, is to let God choose 
for us, and to give what he sees best for us, and 
in the way that he knows to be the best. 

" Lead me by thy own hand; 
Choose out the path for me." 

(69) 



March 10. 

His heart was not perfect with the Lord his God. — 
i Kings xi. 4. 

THE Arabs have a tradition that for a long time 
a little worm was gnawing in the staff on 
which Solomon leaned, until at last the staff broke 
and the great king fell. It was at the king's heart 
that the worm was really gnawing. 

A perfect heart does not mean a sinless heart, 
but a heart wholly devoted in its aim and motive 
to God. Solomon had a corner in his heart for 
the Lord, and then other corners for the gods of all 
the other nations. The Saviour's words come in 
here : " Ye cannot serve God and mammon." 

We need to be on our guard against this Solo- 
monian religion. There is plenty of it. It is very 
broad church. It abhors the preaching of the stern 
truths of God's word about sin and holiness. It 
sends well-nigh everybody to heaven, and regards 
hell as a mediaeval fable. It calls strict Christians 
puritanic or strait-laced. It calls great sins es- 
capades, and finds no use for such psalms as the 
fifty-first. It is not hard to see in the story of 
David and Solomon, however, which of the two 
kinds of religion pleases God the better, and which 
leads to the nobler end. If what his religion did 
for Solomon is a fair sample of the outcome of that 
sort, it does not appear to be quite satisfactory. 

" Renew a right spirit within me. 
Cast me not away from thy presence : 
And take not thy Holy Spirit from me." 

(70) 



March 11. 

The rest of the acts of Solomon . . . are they not 
written ? — i Kings xi. 41. 

THEY are all written. They are not all written 
in the Bible, but they all went down in the 
chronicles of the kings. Nor was that all. When 
manifolding paper is used, the impression of the 
writing goes through and is traced on underlying 
sheets. Our life makes its records in the chronicles 
of the times ; but the writing also goes through, and 
every line and word goes down on pages invisible 
to our eyes — the pages of God's book. We read in 
the Bible that the books will be opened for final judg- 
ment ; and Solomon himself tells us that " God shall 
bring every work into judgment, with every hidden 
thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." 

Solomon is gone, and his record cannot now be 
changed ; but we are concerned with our own lives. 
The young have the chief portion of their life yet 
before them. It is important that they remember 
that all their acts are written ; that things which 
are hidden from the eyes of the world are yet 
written down on the book within the veil ; and that 
some day all secret things shall be manifested, 
brought fully to the light, before all the universe. 
It is important, therefore, that they do, along the 
common days, only the things which they will be 
glad to see revealed when all secret things shall 
be uncovered. "When the day of judgment comes, 
we shall be asked . . . how holy were our lives, 
and not how fine our words." 

(71) 



March 12. 

The sweet psalmist of Israel. — 2 Samuel xxiii. 1. 

THINK of the influence of David's psalms. 
Take one for example — the twenty-third. 
Who can count up the blessings it has left in its 
wanderings through the world ? How many chil- 
dren have learned to say it almost with their first 
efforts at speech ! How many sick people have 
listened to its sweet, musical accents, as it has 
been read in softened tones in the hushed 
chamber ! How many dying ones have murmured 
the beautiful sentences as the gloom gathered 
about them, especially lingering on the words : 
" Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art 
with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." 
This precious psalm has been like a beautiful 
angel, flying up and down through the world, bear- 
ing its joy and gladness to hearts of young and 
old, of rich and poor. 

I would rather have written the twenty-third 
psalm than have been the greatest emperor this 
world ever saw. Yet this is only one of many. 
The psalms contain the records of men's heart-life, 
and heart-life is the same in all ages ; hence people 
will always find here words which will interpret 
their own feelings. There never can be another 
such Book of Common Prayer as the Psalms. 

" He leadeth me beside the still waters. 
He restoreth my soul; 
He guideth me in the paths of righteousness." 

(72) 



March 13. 

For she said within herself, If I do but touch his 
garment, I shall be made whole. — St. Matthew 
ix. 21. 

ALL about us evermore the garment of Christ 
floats. It is by us when we open the Bible 
and read his words. It is by us when we feel the 
presence of the Holy Spirit with us. It is by our 
beds of pain when we are sick. It is by us when it 
grows dark around us with the gloom of sorrow. It 
is by us in our busiest days, amid the tasks and 
toils and cares of our life. We never get anywhere 
but that mystic garment trails close to us, so that 
we can reach out and touch it with our hand, and 
have the thrill of our heart's cry flash to the very 
soul of Christ. If there be in us only a sense of 
need, and a turning, with even feeblest faith, to 
Christ, our touch is instantly felt in heaven, and 
a voice of love calls, " Who touched me ? " 

Immortal love, forever full, 

Forever flowing free, 
Forever shared, forever whole, 

A never-ebbing sea. 

We may not climb the heavenly steeps 

To bring the Lord Christ down; 
In vain we search the lowest deeps, 

For him no depths can drown. 

The healing of his seamless dress 

Is by our beds of pain; 
We touch him in life's throng and press, 

And we are whole again. 

John G. Whittier. 

(73) 



March 14. 

He that judgeth me is the Lord. — i Corinthians 
iv. 4. 

THERE is a story of a young composer whose 
music was being performed. The audience 
was enthusiastic, applauding wildly as the compo- 
sition was played. But the young man seemed ut- 
terly indifferent to all this applause. He kept his 
eye fixed intently on one man in the audience, 
watching every expression that played upon his 
features. It was his teacher. He cared more for 
the slightest mark of favor on his face than for all 
the applause of the great company. So in all our 
life we should watch the face of Christ, caring only 
that he should be pleased. It matters far more 
what he thinks of our performance than what all 
the world besides thinks. If we live to win his 
approval, we shall not be afraid to have all our 
deeds laid bare at the last before the judgment 
throne. 

Thou who seest my soul within, 

Thou who knowest my unknown sin, 

Through thy holy eyes let me 

Learn what sin is unto thee. 

If there be in me a thought 
That thy dear name honoreth not, 
Pierce it with thy pitying gaze 
Till its silence turns to praise. 

Make me, Pure One, as thou art, 
Pure in mind and soul and heart; 
Never satisfied with less 
Than thy perfect holiness. 

Lucy Larcom, 

(74) 



March 15. 

Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. — Ephe- 
sians iv. 26. 

THE only way to make our life continuously 
beautiful, and to keep it ever sweet with love, 
is to insist on judging ourselves day by day. Old 
accounts are hard to settle. Each setting of the 
sun should be a signal to us to apply the law of 
Christ to all our life for the day. The hour of 
evening prayer should always be a time for getting 
right all that may have gone wrong in us during 
the day. Then every feeling of bitterness against 
another should be cast out of our heart. Life is 
too critical for us to venture into any night's dark- 
ness, cherishing anger or envy. " Let not the sun 
go down upon your wrath " is a wise counsel. 

The wrath left in the heart to-night will be harder 
to overcome to-morrow than it is to-day; for bit- 
ter feelings grow more bitter as they are cherished 
and nursed, and who knows what the end may be ? 
They may grow into crimes unless quickly put out 
of the heart. Evening prayer should bring love's 
flood into all the life. 

" Life is too short for hate, — 
We mingle here but one brief day; 
Too brief for what we meant to say, 
When it is all too late. 

Life is too short for hate; 
The tree is green that soon shall wave 
Its leafy plumes above the grave 

In that relentless state." 

(75) 



March 16. 

I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the 
work which thou hast given me to do, — St. John 
xvii. 4. 

JESUS is the only man who has ever lived so as 
to be able to say this. The best lives are but 
fragments, leaving many things unfinished. Yet 
we ought to take a lesson from Christ's finishing 
of his work. He did it, simply by doing each day 
the will of his Father for the day. 

He was a young man when he died — only three 
and thirty. We think of those who die young as 
dying before their work is completed. We learn, 
however, that even a young man, dying, may leave 
a finished work. The truth is, every one's life is 
a plan of God. Years enough are given in which 
to do the work allotted. Even a baby that lives 
only a day, merely looking into the mother's eyes 
and then going away, does the work that was given 
it to do. The young man who dies at three and 
thirty, with his hands full of tasks, if only he has 
lived faithfully, has finished the work which God 
gave him to do. Not years, but faithfulness, counts 
with God. 

" I lay me down to sleep, 

With little thought or care 
Whether my waking find 
Me here or there. 

My half-day's work is done, 

And this is all my part, 
To give a patient God 

My patient heart. " 

(76) 



March 17. 

Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father in 
law. — Exodus iii. i . 

FOR forty years Moses had been looking after 
sheep in the wilderness. It appears to us as 
if all those years were lost. We can see how profit- 
ably the first forty were spent. Those earlier years 
under his mother's influence — he carried their 
lessons and impress to the end. Then those years 
in the schools of Egypt and in the palace — he 
learned much there that was essential to his mis- 
sion. But what did that long period in the desert 
do toward fitting him to be a leader, a lawgiver, the 
builder of a nation ? Far more, no doubt, than we 
can tell. All that while his character was knitting 
itself into strength. He was learning self-discipline. 
In the desert he was taught many a lesson which 
made him more fit for his work — lessons he could 
never have learned in the busy life of Pharaoh's 
palace. 

Nowadays, boys can scarcely wait till they are 
out of their teens to begin their life-work. Some 
of them think it a waste of time to take a regular 
college course before they enter a profession. They 
think they must get at once into the ministry, or 
into the medical or legal profession. They cannot 
afford the time to study through all the long course. 
No wonder such boys fail as men. When God trains 
a man for any great work he always takes plenty of 
time. No boy acts wisely who is in such a hurry to 
get to work that he cannot wait to prepare well. 

(77) 



March 18. 

The Lord said to Aaron, Go i?ito the wilderness to 
meet Moses. — Exodus iv. 27. 

GOD always knows where to find the man he 
wants. Indeed, he trains men while they 
know it not for the work he means them to do by 
and by. For eighty years Moses had been in special 
preparation for his great mission as leader. Aaron 
also had been in training for the particular part of 
the work he was to do. He did not know what he 
was being prepared for, but God knew. Probably 
Aaron had naturally a fine voice. Then we may 
suppose that while in Egypt he was led to give 
much attention to elocution and oratory. He did 
not know what special use was to be made of his 
power, but God knew. Then when the time came 
for him to enter upon his work, he was ready. 

The young man does not know what work God 
may have waiting for him to do. But he possesses 
certain gifts. These he should train to the very 
highest degree of efficiency. Then when God wants 
him he will be ready. It was the daily prayer of 
a young Christian girl, that God would prepare her 
for whatever he was preparing for her. Many lives 
are failures because when God wants them they are 
not ready. Many a young man enters a profession 
without qualification, having squandered his oppor- 
tunities. Is it any wonder he makes a failure ? 
We should train ourselves to proficiency in some- 
thing, and God will want us by and by, and we 
shall be ready. 

(78) 



March 19. 

A?id Aaron spake all the words which the Lord had 
spoken unto Moses, — Exodus iv. 30. 

ONE of the excuses Moses offered when God bade 
him go to be the deliverer of his people was 
that he was not a good speaker. God met his dif- 
ficulty by telling him that he would provide a speaker. 
Aaron should be his mouthpiece. So all along the 
history, Moses is a silent man, and Aaron's is the 
voice we hear. Each did his own part. 

It is just in this way that God's work is always to 
be done. No one person has universal gifts. One 
man is a poor talker, but has brains and heart, and 
can make plans, and impart energy and inspiration. 
Another is an eloquent speaker, but lacks in the 
very points in which the first excels. Put the two 
together, and they can achieve great results. In a 
church, some can sing well ; some cannot sing, but 
can teach ; some can do neither, but can carry com- 
fort to the sick ; some can manage business affairs ; 
some can make money and give it. There is a di- 
versity of gifts, no two having the same ; but if all 
work together, each doing his own part, the church 
is not only a power, but there is no necessary work 
which is not done. Never worry because you have 
not the gift some other one has ; you have some 
gift, and that is the one God wants you to use. 

" Yet do thy work: it shall succeed 

In thine or another's day, 

And if denied the victor's meed, 

Thou shalt not lack the toiler's pay." 

(79) 



March 20. 

Moses made an end of speaking. — Deuteronomy 

xxxii. 45. 

SO we all shall do some day. Moses knew it was 
the end for him : we may not know when our 
end is at hand. Any word of ours, spoken amid 
glee and merriment, may be our last. If we always 
thought of this, would it not make us more careful ? 
Would we ever say an unkind word to a friend, if 
we felt that we may never have an opportunity to 
unsay it or atone for it ? Would we ever utter an 
angry, untrue or unclean word, if we only remem- 
bered that it may be the last utterance our lips 
shall give forth ? We want to have beautiful end- 
ings to our life, to leave sweet memories behind 
us in the hearts of those who love us. We want 
our names to be fragrant in the homes on whose 
thresholds our footfalls are wont to be heard. 
We want the memory of our last words in our 
friends' ears to live as a tender joy with them as 
the days pass away. We can be sure of all this 
only by making every word we speak beautiful 
enough to be a last word. For with any sentence 
we may come to the end of our speaking. 

We should waste no moments in weak regret 

If the day were but one: 
If what we remember and what we forget 

Went out with the sun : 
We should be from our clamorous selves set free 

To work or to pray. 
And to be what the Father would have us be, 

If we had but a day. Marv Um r , :J .... 

C So) 



March 21. 

The Lord spake unto Moses . . . Get thee up into 
this mountain . . . and die. — Deuteronomy xxxii. 
48, 49> S°- 

TO each of us the summons will sometime come : 
" Get thee away from thy farm, thy store, thy 
desk, thy books, thy pleasure, into the silence of 
thine own chamber, and die." We may not hear 
the voice nor be conscious, when we lay down our 
work at nightfall, that we are going away to die ; 
but this will not alter the fact. We will come to 
our last hour, when the voice none can resist will 
call us from earth. 

Moses was to die alone. None of the people 
accompanied him. Every one of us really has to 
die alone. Our friends may gather around us ; they 
may hold our hand ; they may sing or pray with 
us ; they may drop their tears on our cold cheek, 
and print hot kisses of farewell on our lips ; yet 
we must die alone. No one can accompany us 
beyond the foot of the mountain. This is a point 
at which the tenderest affection can give no help. 
It is like one going out on the sea in a ship. 
Friends come to the shore and wave their fare- 
wells as we go out, but not one of them goes 
with us. We must die alone ; 

" Not sweeping up together, 

In whirlwind or in cloud; 
In the hush of the summer weather, 

Or when storms are thundering loud; 
But one by one we go, 
In the sweetness none may know." 

(81) 



March 22. 

Now it came to pass, after the death of Moses the ser- 
vant of the Lord, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the 
son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my servant 
is dead ; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, 
and all this people. — Joshua i. i, 2. 

SORROW came to you yesterday and emptied 
your home. Your first impulse now is to give 
up and sit down in despair amid the wrecks of your 
hopes. But you dare not do it. You are in the 
line of battle, and the crisis is at hand. To falter 
a moment would be to imperil some holy interest. 
Other lives would be harmed by your pausing. Holy 
interests would suffer, should your hands be folded. 
You must not linger even to indulge your grief. 
Sorrows are but incidents in life, and must not in- 
terrupt us. We must leave them behind, while we 
press on to the things that are before. 

Then God has so ordered, too, that in pressing 
on in duty we shall find the truest, richest comfort 
for ourselves. Sitting down to brood over our sor- 
rows, the darkness deepens about us and creeps 
into our heart, and our strength changes to weak- 
ness. But if we turn away from the gloom, and 
take up the tasks and duties to which God calls us, 
the light will come again and we shall grow stronger. 

" When all our hopes are gone, 
'Tis well our hands must still keep toiling on 

For others' sake; 
For strength to bear is found in duty done; 
And he is blest indeed who learns to make 
The joy of others cure his own heart-ache." 

(82) 



March 23. 

/ pray not that thou shoulrfest take them from the 
world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil 
one. — St. John xvii. 15. 

CHRIST does not wish that we shall be kept 
from suffering, but that in our suffering we 
shall not sin. He does not wish that we may never 
have sickness, but that in our sickness we may not 
fail of patience, sweetness, and trust. He does not 
wish that we may have no trials or struggles, but 
that in our trials and struggles we may not be over- 
come and our lives hurt or marred. 

There is only one evil in the world, but it lurks 
everywhere. It comes even in our purest joys ; we 
may forget God in them. The happiest home may 
become a place of peril to us, leading us to self- 
indulgence, love of ease, forgetfulness of the world's 
need and sorrow, neglect of duties, even to forget- 
fulness of God. 

There is no sin in our being hated by the world, 
in our being wronged or injured by others ; but if 
we endure the hatred and the wrong resentfully, 
if we grow angry and seek to avenge ourselves, we 
have sinned. There is no sin in our being assailed 
by temptations, — we cannot live a day without 
being tempted, — but the moment we yield to the 
temptation, we have sinned. There is no sin in 
our suffering adversity, disappointment, loss, want ; 
but the moment that in any such experience we 
repine, doubt God, or rebel against his will, we have 
been hurt. 

(83) 



March 24. 

// is not yet made ma?iifest what we shall be. We 
know that, if he shall be manifested, we shall be like 
him; for we shall see him even as he is. — i John 
iii. 2. 

THINK of the possibilities of man in the light 
of the revealings of Christianity. You know 
what the Christ says of the future of every one who 
believes in him, but have you ever thought deeply 
about it ? 

Have you ever thought seriously about the word 
eternity, as a definition of the duration of your own 
life ? Jesus tells us we shall have eternal life, and 
that means not endless existence only, but endless 
growth, development, progress. The New Testa- 
ment tells us that we know now only in part, only 
little fragments of any knowledge, but that some 
day we shall know perfectly. It tells us also that 
there will be the most wondrous moral development 
in these lives of ours. 

There is a glory in the Christian's soul not yet 
revealed. The Bible lifts the veil, and shows us a 
glimpse of Christ. " We shall be like him." I 
cannot explain that. It is too high for any human 
thought to comprehend it. But surely it tells of mar- 
vellous possibilities in men. That is the future of 
every one who will link his life to the life of Christ. 

" Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve, 
And press with vigor on ; 
A heavenly race demands thy zeal, 
And an immortal crown." 

(8 4 ) 



March 25. 

Ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. — 2 Cor- 
inthians iv. 5. 

ITls said of a great artist, that when painting his 
immortal pictures on the ceiling of one of the 
chapels in St. Peter's, he carried a little lamp fastened 
to his cap on his forehead, so that no shadow of 
himself should fall on his work. It would be well 
if we should learn always so to carry the light by 
which we work, that self shall never in any way 
come between our lamp and our work. We should 
so relate our own personality to our serving that 
it shall never cast a shadow on the things we are 
doing for Christ. 

It is not easy so to move through life that no mood 
or feeling of our own shall ever affect our spirit or 
temper as we go on with our duty. Ofttimes the 
temptation is strong. Things do not go altogether 
to our mind. Other people do not accord to us the 
honor or respect we think we deserve. The ten- 
dency is to feel hurt, and then to allow our hurt 
consciousness to affect our interest in the work or 
our relations with our fellow-workers. But this is 
not the Christian way — not the way Jesus would 
act. No apparent or real slighting of us by any 
other should make us less faithful. Touchiness is 
not among the fruits of the Spirit. 

And wouldst thou hasten in another soul 

God's kingdom on the earth, of love and peace? 

Learn first thyself, thy spirit, to control; 
From all that's false and evil in thee cease. 

Jones Very. 

(85) 



March 26. 

I forgave thee all that debt . . . Shouldest not thou 
also have had mercy on thy fellow- servant ? — St. 
Matthew xviii. 32, 33. 

THOUGH the servant had been forgiven all his 
vast debt, he had not been willing to forgive 
a fellow servant a mere trifle of debt. 

No Christian precept is urged more repeatedly 
and more earnestly than this. In the form of prayer 
which our Lord taught his disciples he linked to- 
gether divine and human forgiveness : " Forgive us 
our debts as we forgive our debtors." Then he 
added a clear and unmistakable word, emphasizing 
the lesson : " For if ye forgive men their trespasses, 
your heavenly Father will also forgive you ; but 
if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will 
your Father forgive your trespasses." 

St. Paul enjoins, " Be ye kind one to another, 
tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God 
for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." This is but 
one of many repetitions of the solemn lesson. If 
we are not ready to forgive those who do us little 
injuries, it is proof that we are not forgiven of God. 
That is, before we can receive divine forgiveness 
we must have the spirit of forgiveness in our own 
heart. If there be not in the heart the spirit of 
forgiveness, evidently it has not yet experienced the 
mercy of God. 

It was said of one : " His heart was as great as 
the world, but there was no room in it to hold the 
memory of a wrong." 

(36) 



March 27. 

/ am the light of the world : he that followeth me 
shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light 
of life. — St. John viii. 12. 

WE are always coming to points we have never 
passed before. Every new temptation is 
such a point. We cannot get through it unless we 
have a guide. Some of you know how dark and 
strange it seemed to you the first time you had 
to enter the valley of sorrow. A godly man says : 
"I shall never forget, while memory lasts, the 
strangeness of the experience through which 
I passed when first the reaper whose name is 
Death came into my home, and with his sickle 
keen cut down at one thrust two of my children. 
The stroke blinded me for the moment ; but when 
at length I opened my eyes, I saw the ark in the 
river, and that instantly steadied me. I knew then 
where I was." 

Every new duty brings us also to a way we know 
not. Every fresh responsibility calls us to walk 
in an unfamiliar road. All life is strange, and we 
cannot find the way ourselves. 

Then there is that last walk on earth — into the 
valley of shadows. We never can get any expe- 
rience in dying ; for no feet ever walk twice on that 
way, nor has any friend ever come back to tell 
us what it is like. W 7 hen we come to die, we shall 
find ourselves in an experience we have never 
known before. If we have not Christ in the 
strange, unfamiliar path, we shall not find the way. 

(87) 



March 28. 

Who did sin, this mail, or his parents, that he 
should be born blind ? . . . Neither did this man sin, 
nor his parents : but that the works of God should be 
made manifest in him. — St. John ix. 2, 3. 

ARE troubles sent to punish us for our sins ? 
The people in Christ's day thought so. But 
Jesus gave a different explanation. He said the 
man was blind that the works of God should be 
made manifest in him. His blindness led him into 
contact with Jesus and thus brought him a double 
blessing, — the opening of his natural eyes, and the 
opening of his soul's eyes. Probably he would 
never have met Jesus but for his misfortune of 
blindness. If he had not been blind, this miracle 
of his healing would never have been wrought. 

A great many revealings and blessings come 
through troubles. Jesus said the sickness of Laza- 
rus was for the glory of God, that the Son of God 
might be glorified thereby. No doubt every sick- 
ness is a chance for a blessing of some kind, both 
to the person who is sick and to his friends. 
Every loss we have is meant to be the revealing 
to us of a gain which would more than make com- 
pensation. Every disappointment in our life is 
intended to give us a better thing than that which 
we have failed to get. Wordsworth writes : — 

When a damp 
Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand 
The thing became a trumpet; whence he blew 
Soul-animating strains — alas, too few ! 

(88) 



March 29. 

Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ. 
— i Corinthians xi. i. 

YOU may think you have no influence over any 
other lives, but you have. There are those 
who will do what you do, and be what you are. If 
you are reverent, they will be reverent ; if you are 
false, they are false. Your influence touches many 
other lives, and leaves either blessing or curse. 

A gentleman told the story of his conversion 
to Christ : " If I had been going to ruin alone," 
he said, " I should have gone on. But one night 
1 came in from the wine-table, and looked at my 
sleeping babes as they lay in their holy innocence 
amid the snowy pillows. I held the lamp so that 
its beams fell full upon their sweet faces. As I 
stood there in the awful silence, unbroken, save by 
the ticking of the clock on the mantel, and the soft 
breathing of my little ones, there arose a terrifying 
vision before my eyes. I saw myself sweeping 
down toward perdition, and these, my precious 
children, clinging to my garments. I could not 
stand that. I could go to ruin myself, but to drag 
my angel babes there with me — oh, I could not 
do that ! So right there beside the crib, I fell on 
my knees before God, and asked him to save me 
for my children's sake." Few motives in life could 
be stronger than the consciousness that the career 
and destiny of other lives will depend on what we 
do with our own life. We should be able always 
to say, " Imitate me and you will live nobly." 

(89) 



March 30. 

Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little 
ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple^ 

verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his re- 
ward. — St. Matthew x. 42. 

TT T E never can know what the full outcome of 
\ \ our simplest kindnesses will be. We speak 
a cheerful word to one who is discouraged. We 
pass on, scarcely giving another thought to the 
matter. Yet perhaps our word has saved a life 
from despair, helped a fainting robin back unto its 
nest again, or changed a destiny from darkness to 
light. 

Nor can we know how far the influence of our 
word shall extend. A pebble dropped into the sea 
starts wavelets which go around and around the 
world. A word spoken into the air goes pulsating 
in the atmosphere forever. So it is with the things 
we do for Christ. We cannot follow them, to trace 
their storv ; but their blessing shall never cease from 
the world's life. There will be many surprises in 
heaven when we learn the effects of our words and 
deeds of love. 

He who plants a tree 

He plants love; 

Tents of coolness spreading out above 
Wayfarers he may not live to see. 

Gifts that grow are best; 

Hands that bless are blest. 

Plant; life does the rest. 
Heaven and earth help him who plants a tree, 
And his work its own reward shall be. 

Lucy Lakcom. 

(9°) 



March 31. 

Having loved his ow?i which were in the world, he 
loved them unto the e?td. — St. John xiii. i. 

YOU may write your own name into this verse, 
and it will be as true as it was of the company 
at the table that night. Having loved you, he loves 
you unto the end. 

It was the night before Jesus died. He was with 
his disciples at the passover. Holy memories filled 
his mind. But amid these, his love for his own lost 
none of its warmth. His " hour " of sorrow and 
shame was come. But with all this before him, he 
did not forget " his own." He gathered them about 
him, and spent the last evening with them. He had 
no thought of himself; he thought only of "his 
own." His personal grief and bitterness were kept 
in his own heart while he gave them joy. His love 
over-mastered his sorrow. 

Then there was something else. The words 
read : " His hour was come that he should depart 
out of this world unto the Father." So there was 
glory for him beyond his cross. There were a few 
hours of darkness, woe, and anguish, and then he 
should leave this world and be at home again. His 
heart must have been full of rapture and expectancy 
as he looked forward, knowing that before to-mor- 
row's sun should set, he would be with his Father. 
Yet even this blessed consciousness did not make 
him forget his friends. " Having loved his own 
which were in the world, he loved them unto the 
end." 

(90 



April 1. 

She hath a?ioi?ited my body aforehand for the bury- 
ing. — St. Mark xiv. 8. 

MANY people would have kept the jar till Jesus 
was dead, and would then have broken it 
to anoint his cold body. At least, that is the way 
too many of us do in these days. We wait till our 
friend dies, and then send our flowers and speak our 
words of appreciation. Should we not learn a lesson 
from Mary ? The kind words we mean to speak 
when our friends are dead, let us speak while they 
can hear them. The flowers we mean to send for 
their coffin, let us send to brighten the rough paths 
for their feet. The epitaphs we mean to put upon 
white marble, let us carve in deeds of gentle love 
while our friends are with us. Words of cheer 
to-day are what people crave. 

" Withhold all eulogies when I am dead, 

All noisy sorrow; 
Give me the tender word to-day 

Instead of tears to-morrow. 
Speak not my name, when I am passed from earth, 

In tones of sadness ; 
At thought of me repress no note of mirth, 

No burst of gladness. 
Regard me not as altered when removed 

To the hereafter; 
Think of me still as loving and as loved 

With joy and laughter. 
Delay not trjou when I have wounded sore, 

Till thou outlive me, 
To grant the pardon that I here implore ; 

But now forgive me." 

(92) 



April 2. 

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our 
sorrows. — Isaiah liii. 4. 

WHATEVER the cause of grief may be, there 
is rich comfort in the remembrance of the 
sorrows of Christ. It assures us that Christ under- 
stands our pain. In the garden he went a stone's 
cast farther than any of his disciples went. The 
picture is a parable to us. It is always so. Wher- 
ever you bow in the deep shadows of grief, you 
have but to lift up your eyes, and you will see Jesus 
in still deeper shadows, a stone's cast beyond you. 
His sorrow was sorer than yours. 

There is comfort also in the remembrance that 
blessing comes out of suffering patiently endured. 
All the world's peace and hope, and all heaven's 
joy and glory, are fruits of a great sorrow — the 
sorrow of Christ. Blessing will come always out of 
sorrow, if we but accept it submissively and rev- 
erently. 

While we think of the sufferings of Christ, we 
must remember also that he came from them all 
unharmed, his life shining in divine radiance, lifted 
to glory, too, as a fruit of his suffering. This re- 
minds sorrowing believers that they too shall pass 
through their time of tribulation, that no scars and 
no manner of hurt shall be upon their souls because 
of their sufferings, but that they shall shine in fairer 
beauty and diviner glory, and shall be lifted up to 
higher honor, because of what they have suffered 
with Christ. 

(93) 



April 3. 

Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. 
— i Corinthians xv. 3. 

THERE have been great days in the history of 
the human race, — days of triumph whose 
victories have enriched the world ; days of honor 
whose brightness has made the world lighter; days 
of great deeds which have lifted man to loftier, 
diviner heights ; days of heroic, self-forgetful love 
which has made the air sweeter with its odorous 
perfumes. But the day of all days in fruit of bless- 
ing and good in the world's story, was that Good 
Friday when the Son of man gave his life on the 
cross to save men. 

" From thy blessed gloom 
The hope of all the world does rise and sing; 
By thy sweet pain, immortal joy is won; 
And in the happy shadow of thy tomb 
Is hid the root of Easter's blossoming." 

There could have been no Easter without a Good 
Friday; no rising again without the dying on the 
cross. Christ must taste death for every man be- 
fore he could offer deathless life to every man. The 
touch of the cross is on every hope of Christian 
faith. The light that shines in soft lustre through- 
out rail the world streams from the cross. The 
sorrow of Calvary is that which is softening all 
human hearts, and making all life gentler and 
sweeter. The power that is drawing all men up- 
ward is the Christ lifted up. 

(94) 



April 4. 

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me 1 — 
St. Matthew xxvii. 46. 

THERE is a picture which represents the after 
scenes on that day of the crucifixion. It is 
all over. The crowds have gone away. The evening 
sun is shining out again on Calvary. The body of 
the Saviour has been borne to the sepulchre. The 
cross has been taken down, and lies on the ground. 
A company of little children, bright with the glow of 
childhood's innocence, led to the place by accident 
or curiosity, are seen bending over the signs of the 
day's terrible work. One of the children holds in 
his hand a nail which a little time before had 
pierced a hand or a foot of the patient Sufferer, and 
stands spellbound with horror as he gazes at it. 
His gentle heart is shocked at sin's dreadful work. 
On all the children's faces the same expression of 
amazement is depicted. 

No one with pure and gentle heart can ever look 
at the death of Christ on the cross with any but 
feelings of amazement and horror at sin's awfulness. 
Tt was sin that nailed Jesus on the cross. It was 
sin that wreathed the circlet of thorns for his brow. 
We say the Jews crucified Christ; yes, but we 
helped to do it. Our sins drove the nails. Would 
you see what sin is? Stand by the cross and 
ponder its terrible work there in the death of the 
Redeemer. See what it cost the Lamb of God to 
take away the sin of the world. 

(95) 



April 5. 

That he hath been raised on the third day according 
to the scriptures. — i Corinthians xv. 4. 

IF our faith stops at the cross, it misses the bless- 
ing of the fullest revealing of Christ. You need 
a Saviour who not merely two thousand years ago 
went to death to redeem you, but one who also 
is alive to walk by your side in loving compan- 
ionship. You want a Saviour who can hear your 
prayers, to whose feet you can creep in penitence 
when you have sinned, to whom you can call for 
help when the battle is going against you. You 
want a Saviour who is interested in all the affairs 
of your common life, and who can assist you in 
every time of need. 

You want a Christ who can be a real friend, 
loving you, keeping close beside you, " closer than 
breathing, nearer than hands and feet." You want 
a Saviour who will come into your life, and will save 
you, not by one great act of centuries past, but 
by a life warm and throbbing with love to-day, and 
living again in you. 

It is for love that our hearts hunger. The bread 
that will satisfy us is not the bread of memorial 
merely, the memory of a great devotion of love 
Ions;, long; since, but the bread of love living, 
present, warm, and throbbing. Nothing less than 
a living Christ will do for us. 

And that is the Christ the gospel brings to 
us — one who was dead, and is now alive for 
evermore. 

(96) 



April 6. 

Why seek ye the living among the dead 1 — Luke 
xxiv. 5. 

A DYING Christ alone will not satisfy your heart. 
While you praise the love that was crucified 
for you, you crave love from a Saviour who lives. 
Memories of a friend who is gone may be very sweet. 
They fill our life with fragrance. The odors of love 
departed stay in a home like the perfume of sweet 
flowers when the flowers have been borne away. 
But how unsatisfying are the mere memories of your 
friend when your heart hungers for love's real pres- 
ence, and touch and tenderness ! No more will the 
mere memories of the Love that died on the cross 
for you satisfy your cravings for Christ. You must 
have the living One for your friend. 

" My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God," 
cried the Hebrew psalmist, and cries every human 
soul. It is only as we realize the truth of a living 
Christ that our hearts are satisfied. We crave love 
— a bosom to lean upon, a hand to touch ours, 
a heart whose beatings we can feel, a personal 
friendship that will come into our life with its 
sympathy, its inspiration, its companionship, its 
shelter, its life, its comfort. All this the living 
Christ is to us, if we but learn the blessed truth 
of his resurrection. 

" For warm, sweet, tender, even yet 
A present help is he ; 
And faith has still its Olivet, 
And love its Galilee." 

(97) 



April 7. 

And very early o?i the first day of the week, they 
co7tie to the tomb when the swi was risen. - — St. Mark 
xvi. 2. 

THE women did not find the body of Jesus in 
the grave. Suppose they had found it there, 
still held in the power of death ; suppose that Jesus 
had never risen ; what would have been the con- 
sequences ? It would have been as if the sun 
and moon and stars were all to be blotted from 
the sky, or as if they had all set one day and never 
risen again. 

St. Paul tells us in his immortal chapter on the 
resurrection, what our loss would be should it be 
found that Christ did not rise. " If Christ hath 
not been raised, then is our preaching vain ; your 
faith also is vain. . . . Ye are yet in your sins." 
Paul had preached of a Saviour who died for men's 
sins and then rose for their justification ; but if 
Christ yet lay in the power of death, his sacrifice 
for sin had not availed. 

If you were imprisoned in some great fortress, 
and one who loved you went forth to try to rescue 
you, and fell and died fighting upon the walls, you 
would cherish the memory of your friend's valiant 
effort on your behalf, but you would still remain 
undelivered. So would it have been with those 
whom Christ came to save, if he had perished in 
death and had not risen. He would have been 
defeated in his great effort, and those for whom he 
died would have remained without deliverance. 

(98) 



April 8. 

But go, tell his disciples and Peter, He goeth before 
yoic into Galilee, — St. Mark xvi. 7. 

THE joyful news must not be kept, but must 
be carried to the other sorrowing friends of 
Jesus, and must be carried quickly. There must 
not be a moment lost. The happy women must 
not sit down together in mere personal enjoyment 
of the blessed news ; there were others in the dark- 
ness of sorrow, and to these they must hasten with 
the gladness. We must not forget in our joy of 
Christian faith that there are others who have none 
of this joy; our mission is to carry the 1 news, and 
to rejoice as we go on our way. 

" Tell his disciples and Peter." Why was Peter 
specially named? It was because he was the sad- 
dest of all, the one who most needed the comfort. 
He had sinned, and was weeping in penitence. This 
showed the tenderness of the heart of Christ toward 
all penitents. It must have given Peter unspeakable 
joy to get this message. Jesus then had not cast 
him off. He would now have an opportunity to 
weep on his Lord's bosom, confess his sin, and 
crave and obtain pardon. 

" And Peter *' has its gracious message for every 
penitent soul. Have you grieved Christ by sin, by 
denial, by any unfaithfulness, and are you weeping 
in sorrow over your sin ? Those who have fallen 
are the very ones that lie most heavily on the heart 
of Jesus, just because they have fallen. He came 
to be a physician to the sick. 

(99) 



April 9 

And their eyes were opened, and they knew him ; and 
he vanished out of their sight. — St. Luke xxiv. 31. 

ANNIVERSARY days always bring back the 
memories of those who have gone. Out of 
what home has not some loved face vanished ? You 
are thinking of these departed ones. They died in 
Christ. The gospel of these Easter days lifts the 
veil, and shows them to you away beyond death, 
unhurt by death, living still, the same gentle friends 
they were when you knew them here and clasped 
them in your arms. 

I had a letter the other day from Rome, written 
by a dear friend who is journeying abroad in search 
of health. The letter was full of bright words which 
reminded me of my friend's beautiful life. There 
was the same old warmth, the same eager interest 
in things and persons, the same kindly thoughtful- 
ness. Just like my friend. I said, as I read the 
letter. Being in Rome has made no change in the 
gentle spirit. 

It is just so with our friends in heaven. My father 
and mother are there. If I were to go home to-day. 
I know I should see them unchanged. Of course 
the marks of care are gone, or have become trans- 
figured, and are now marks of beauty. They have 
not their earthly bodies, but then those worn and 
weary bodies were not my father and mother. Death 
ended nothing beautiful in them. I should see them 
living in new and richer life, engaged, as they used 
to be on earth, in loving ministries. 
(100) 



April 10. 

Mary . . . seeth the stone taken away from the tomb. 
— St. John xx. i. 

THIS stone had worried the women as they 
hurried toward the grave. They knew it 
was there, that it was too heavy for them with 
their frail hands to roll away, and they wondered 
how they could get it removed. But now, when 
they came in sight of the tomb, Mary looked up 
and saw that the stone was rolled aside. 

This incident illustrates many experiences in our 
common life. We worry about difficulties and ob- 
stacles that lie in our path and seem to block our 
progress. But when we move on obediently, and 
come to the place of the supposed hindrance or 
obstacle, it is gone, or it was never there save 
in our imagination. We all know that very many 
of our anxieties prove in the end to be really 
groundless. 

We ought to learn here once for all the les- 
son, that when God sends us anywhere he intends 
to make it possible for us to go. Duty's path 
always opens for us as we go on — not before we 
start, but as we obey and move forward. Yet we 
must not expect there will never be any difficulties 
to meet or obstacles to surmount. God never has 
promised that. Too easy a path is often a bane in 
life, not a blessing. The difficulties and obstacles 
that remain may be made stepping-stones by which 
we shall rise to higher things. 

(101) 



April 11. 

The eleven disciples 'went into Galilee, unto the 
mountain where Jesus had appointed them. — St. Mat- 
thew xxviii. 1 6. 

TT ^E should always keep the appointments Jesus 
V \ makes with us. If we fail we shall surely 
be the losers. Suppose some of our Lord's dis- 
ciples had stayed away, for some cause, from this 
meeting in Galilee. Think what they would have 
missed ! They might have said : "It is a long dis- 
tance to the place fixed upon: " or. " The mountain 
is steep, and I do not like to climb it: " or. " I fear 
it will rain or be stormy : " or, " Perhaps he will not 
be there : I cannot understand how he can be risen 
from the dead." 

For any of these, or for other similar reasons. 
some might have been absent that wonderful day. 
But they would have missed a glorious sight of the 
risen Jesus, and would not have heard his words of 
commission and promise. To the end of their life 
they would have regretted that they had not kept 
their Lord's appointment that day. 

Christ makes many appointments for us. Some- 
times we do not think them very important, and are 
easily hindered from keeping them. But we never 
can know what we lose bv these neglects. Jesus 
always comes where he asks us to meet him. and 
gives b'essings there to those who have been faith- 
ful in gathering to wait for him. We do not know 
what we may miss any common Sabbath by stay- 
ing away from the services appointed by Christ. 

(lQ2 | 



April 12. 

Having hope toward God . . . that there shall be a res- 
urrection both of the just and unjust. — Acts xxiv. 15. 

THE hope of resurrection to a believer in Christ 
ought to be a wonderful inspiration in the 
earthly life. The grave is not the end ; we shall 
come again from it in new beauty, and shall live on 
forever. Not only did Christ teach that the dead 
shall rise again, but he himself went down into the 
grave and then came again, after three days, alive. 
Thus he showed the possibility of resurrection ; one 
man died and rose again, and may not all ? But his 
resurrection meant more than that. He was the 
head of his people, and as such his victory was for 
them. He met and conquered death for them. 

Now death is a vanquished foe. St. Paul puts it 
very strongly, and says that Christ abolished death. 
Jesus himself put it no less strongly when he said, 
" I am the resurrection and the life . . . whosoever 
liveth and believeth in me shall never die." There 
is no break, no interruption, in a Christian's life in 
what we call dying. The spirit lives more really, 
fully, gloriously, a moment after death, than ever 
it lived before. Then the body which goes down 
into the grave, sleeps — that is the Christian word 
— sleeps in Jesus, until the resurrection, when 
Christ will come and call it up ; not the old 
earthly, worn-out, sin-corrupted, and mortal flesh 
and blood, but a new, strong, glorious, incorrupti- 
ble, immortal, spiritual body, to live with Christ 
forever. 

( io 3) 



April 13. 

/ am the first a?id the last, and the Living one. — 
Revelation i. 18. 

THINK of the brokenness, the incompleteness, 
the littleness, of these lives of ours. We get 
glimpses of beauty in character which we are not 
able to attain. We have longings which seem to us 
too great ever to come true. W r e dream of things 
we want to do ; but when we try to work them out, 
our clumsy hands cannot put them into realizations. 
We have glimmerings of a love that is very rich and 
tender, without trace of selfishness, without envy or 
jealousy, without resentment — a love that seeketh 
not its own, is not provoked, beareth all things. 
We get the vision from the life of Christ himself. 
We say, " I will learn that lesson of love ; I will 
be like that." But we fail. 

We strive to be sweet-spirited, unselfish, thought- 
ful, to keep good temper ; but we must wet our 
pillow with tears at the close of our marred days, 
because we cannot be what we strive to be. We 
have glimpses of a peace which is very beautiful. 
We strive after it — strive with intense effort, but 
do not reach it. 

So it is in all our living. Life is ever something 
too large for us. We attain only fragments of living. 
Yet all this incompleteness, this unsatisfactoriness, 
this poor unattainment, finds its realization in the 
risen Christ. His is the perfect life, and in him 
we shall find fulness of life. 

(104) 



April 14. 

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, 
immoveable, always abounding i?i the work of the 
Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not 
vain in the Lord, — i Corinthians xv. 58. 

JESUS walks no more among men, doing his 
deeds of love, but he sends his followers forth 
to do the works in his name. We ought to abound 
in all loving ministry just as he did. It is not 
enough to be good, gentle, sweet, amiable, kindly, 
patient. It is beautiful to live such a life ; and 
its influence is far-reaching, like the fragrance of 
Mary's ointment. 

But we must also be full of good works. We 
must be winners of souls. We must live to do good 
to men, to comfort sorrow, to feed hunger, to relieve 
distress, to cheer the disheartened, to break chains 
and liberate sin's captives, to stand up for the 
trulh, to do battle for the right. We are to be like 
Christ, and we begin to be like Christ only when 
we begin to be useful. 

It ought to be a wondrous inspiration to us, in 
our work for Christ, to read that our labor for God 
is not in vain. No word of truth spoken in this 
world is ever lost. On the rocks we find the im- 
pressions left ages since by leaves that fell on the 
soft clay and seemed to perish. So somewhere 
every word we speak for God, and every smallest 
deed we do for the love of Christ, leave their im- 
mortal record. 

(105) 



April 15, 

That disciple therefore whom Jesus cove^ saith unto 
Peter, It is the Lord. — St. John xxi. 7. 

DR. CULROSS compares the character of John, 
in its mellow ripeness, to an ancient, extinct 
volcano. Where once the crater yawned, there is 
now a verdurous, cup-like hollow on the mountain 
summit. Where once the fierce fires burned, lies a 
still, clear pool of water, looking up like an eye to 
the beautiful heavens above, its banks covered with 
sweet flowers. " It is an apt parable," he says, " of 
this man. Naturally and originally volcanic, capa- 
ble of profoundest passion and daring, he is new- 
made by grace, till in his old age he stands out in 
calm grandeur of character, and depth and large- 
ness of soul, with all the gentlenesses and graces 
of Christ adorning him — a man, as I imagine him 
to myself, with a face so noble that kings might do 
him homage, and so sweet that little children would 
run to him for his blessing." This is a true and 
striking portrait of this disciple of love. 

What was it that wrought this transformation in 
John, that changed the " son of thunder " into the 
apostle of Christly affectionateness ? It was lean- 
ing upon the Master's bosom that did it. The lump 
of common clay lay upon the perfumed rose, and 
the sweetness of the rose entered into it. John lay 
on Jesus' bosom, on the bosom of the all-loving, 
and the love of Jesus passed into John's soul and 
transformed it. That was the secret of John's sane- 
tinxation. 

(106) 



April 16. 

Simon, son of John, lovest thou me ? . . . Yea, 
Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee. — St. John 
xxi. 1 6. 

WE are striving to follow Christ, but we are 
weak. We intend to be loving, but we 
mar our days with unhappy tempers and selfish 
strivings. We intend to be strong in faith, but 
many times our trust fails us. We bow our heads 
to take the Master's benediction, " Peace be unto 
you ; " but again and again the peace is broken. 
We intend to show the world a pattern of Christ- 
likeness, but the temptations about us are so sore 
that every day we are conscious of having failed to 
be true. We set out in the morning brave and con- 
fident; but alas ! how often does the evening find us 
defeated! 

What shall we do ? There stands the Master, 
patient, unwearied in his loving, asking, " Lovest 
thou me ? " Dare we say, " Yes, Lord ? " If he 
were but a man like ourselves, we could not; for 
our failures would seem to disprove our word, and 
he could not read the love in our secret heart under 
all the inconsistency. But he knows all the truth 
about us. He knows we are sincere and loyal 
in heart, though so unworthy. He sees the love 
amid the broken vows and the failures. Therefore, 
we can look up out of our deep humiliation, and 
say with inexpressible comfort, " Yea, Lord ; thou 
knowest that I love thee." 

(107) 



April 17. 

Lovest thou me ? . . . Lord, thou knowest all things ; 
thou knowest that I love thee. — St. John xxi. 17. 

YOU look into your life to-day and what do you 
see there ? Failures, broken purposes, promises 
not kept, commandments violated, purity stained, 
everything sullied. Jesus comes and looks into your 
face, with that calm, holy, searching gaze of his, and 
says, "Lovest thou me ? " As you are about to an- 
swer, you think of all you have done that has been 
dishonorable and sinful. You are dumb before him. 
Yet you are conscious that you do love him ; that in 
your heart, beneath all your sins, failures, and faults, 
there is love for him. What a comfort it is to cast 
yourself on his knowledge of what is in you ! Per- 
haps men sneer, and say that one who has stumbled as 
you have done surely cannot love Christ. But Christ 
knows the love, even amid the sins and failures. 

I am glad that perfection is not the test of dis- 
cipleship. We may be full of faults. We go on 
stumbling every day. We do nothing beautifully. 
We misrepresent the Christ whose name we bear. 
We hurt the friends we want to help. One came to 
me full of grief because her heart had been so re- 
bellious in time of sorrow. Another came broken 
down because in a tim£ of great temptation he had 
dishonored Christ. Christ knows all these sad 
failures. He looks at the stained scroll we fold 
up at the close of the day with the blots on it. 
But while he sees the worst, he sees also the best ; 
and he loves on — loves unto the uttermost 

(108) 



April 18. 

Jesus saith unto her. Thy brother shall rise again. — 
St. John xi. 23. 

THERE is wondrous music in these words as 
they are spoken in the ears of sorrowing ones 
beside the coffin and by the new-made grave. It 
was a dim teaching in Martha's time, but soon after- 
ward that occurred which made it bright and clear 
as day. Jesus himself lay in the grave, and then 
rose from death, walking forth in the light and radi- 
ancy of immortal youth. 

Christ was the first-fruits of resurrection ; that is, 
his resurrection was an earnest or pledge as well as 
an example of the coming resurrection of all who 
believe on him. 

We have a right to lay flowers on the coffins of 
our Christian dead. They will come forth in the 
beauty of new life. We open our New Testament 
and see Jesus, after he had risen, away beyond 
death. He has not been harmed by dying. No 
beam of the beauty of his life is quenched. The 
threads of the earthly life are not severed. He 
has not forgotten his friends, but takes up again 
the old companionships and friendships. So will it 
be with our beloved ones who sleep in Jesus. They 
will rise ; and they will be the same persons we have 
known here, only they will be cleansed of their 
earthliness and their mortality. And they will not 
have forgotten us. Love never faileth. We shall 
resume friendship's story on the other side. 

(109) 



April 19. 

Jesus sait/i, Take ye away the stone. — St. John 
xi. 39. 

WE find in all our Lord's life an economy of mir- 
acle. He never put forth supernatural power 
unless it was necessary. Could not Jesus have taken 
away the stone himself ? Certainly he could. The 
power that could call the dead to life could easily 
have lifted back the piece of rock from the door 
of the tomb. But there is alwavs something: left 
for human hands to do. 

God honors us by making us co-workers with 
himself, both in providence and grace. He feeds 
us, but ordinarily we must toil to earn and gather 
our own food. He saves people's souls ; but he 
uses men to speak the message, and then to help in 
winning the lost. He makes his work dependent, 
too, upon our fidelity in doing our part. He still 
wants us to take away the stones that shut our 
friends in their prison. 

This command also exercised the faith of the 
friends. If they had refused to do what he bade 
them do, the miracle could not have been wrought. 
" Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou 
shouldest see the glory of God ? " Had not the 
unbelief given away to faith, Lazarus would not 
have been raised. May it not be that many times, 
in our own days, and in the experiences of our own 
lives, great works of divine power which Christ 
stands ready to perform, are not wrought — because 
we do not believe ? 



April 20. 

As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you, — 
St. John xx. 21. 

THE Son of God came down and lived in human 
form on the earth, that men might see God in 
the flesh. He said, " He that hath seen me, hath 
seen the Father." All the love, the gentleness, the 
patience, the compassion, the purity, the truth, the 
righteousness, which people saw in the life of Jesus, 
was simply a revealing of God. That is what God 
is like. 

Now the Christ sends us out to reveal God to 
men. We are to show to them in our character, 
disposition, spirit, and temper, the qualities of God. 
If any one asks us to tell him what God is like, we 
ought to be able to say humbly and yet truthfully, 
" I am trying to be like God. He lives in me, and 
his qualities shine out in my life. Look at me, 
and you will see what God is like." 

I know how dimly the beauty of God does shine 
in us even at the best ; but we cannot get away from 
the truth that if we are indeed Christ's, he lives in 
us. St. Paul said more than once : " Be ye imita- 
tors of me, even as I am of Christ." We must be 
able to say the same. 

" The dear Christ dwells not afar, 
The king of some remoter star, 
But here, amidst the poor and blind, 
The bowed and suffering of our kind; 
In works we do, in prayers we pray, 
Life of our life, he lives to-day." 

(in) 



April 21. 

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, 
saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give 
you hope i?i your latter end. — Jeremiah xxix. n. 

IT is better we should not know our future. If 
we did, we should often spoil God's plan for 
our life. If we could see into to-morrow, and know 
the troubles it will bring, we might be tempted to 
seek some way of avoiding them, while really they 
are God's way to new honor and blessing. God's 
thoughts for us are always thoughts of love, good, 
promotion ; but sometimes the path to the hilltop 
lies through dark valleys or up rough paths. Yet 
to miss the hard bit of road is to fail of gaining 
the lofty height. It is better, therefore, to walk, 
not knowing, with God, than it would be to see 
the way and choose for ourselves. God's way for 
us is always better than our own. 

" Through pastures fair, 
By sea-girt paths all wild with rock and foam, 
O'er velvet sward, and desert stern and bare, 
The flock comes home. 

Yet safe at last, 
Within the fold they gather, and are still; 
Sheltered from driving shower and stormy blast, 

They fear no ill. 

Through life's dark ways, 
Through flowery paths where evil angels roam, 
Through restless nights, and long, wasting days, 

Christ's flock comes home." 

(ll 2 ) 



April 22. 

I will bring the blind by a path that they knew 
not; in paths that they know not will I lead them : 
I will make . . . crooked places straight. — Isaiah 
xlii. 1 6. 

GOD leads often to good ends through ways 
which to us seem dark. He can make 
crooked things straight for us. Perhaps we shall 
find at the last that many of the best things of 
our life are things over which w r e grieve now as 
blunders. We do the best we can, and yet we fail, 
or seem to fail ; but in God's eyes the effort tells 
of love and of desire to please him, and thus wins 
from him warmer commendation than does many 
a piece of elaborate work, wrought in most deli- 
cate way. 

God can use our poorest efforts ofttimes to greater 
purpose than our finest and most finished endeav- 
ors, because they are less spoiled by human pride. 
Self-consciousness always mars human work. The 
things we do which satisfy us are not likely to sat- 
isfy our Master. Many times the piece of work 
which we think very fine, which pleases us well, 
turns out to be of little use. God cannot use it be- 
cause we have left no place in it for him. Then, 
ofttimes something which we think of no account 
God uses to accomplish great results. The less of 
self there is in our service the more is the service 
worth. There is room then in it for more of God, 
and it is the divine in what we do that alone gives 
it efficiency and value. 

("3) 



April 23. 

For as the rain cometh dow?i and the snow from 
heave?i, and returneth not thither, but watereth the 
earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth 
seed to the sower and bread to the eater ; so shall 
my word be that goeth forth out of ??iy viouth. — 
Isaiah lv. 10, n. 

EVERY one knows the effect of the rain, espe- 
cially when it falls on a field that has been 
parched and withered. Its drops go down to the 
roots of the dying grass, the fading flowers, and the 
drooping trees, and soon new life appears every- 
where. The grass is greener. The flowers revive 
and pour out fragrance. All vegetation is renewed. 
So it is when God's word comes to a fainting, fail- 
ing human life. 

Sometimes rain comes in storms, with black clouds 
and fierce lightnings and thunders. People tremble 
and are afraid as they look on. But the storm 
passes, pouring out rich blessings of rain, which 
make all the fields rejoice. God sometimes sends 
his word to us in dark, portentous forms, — sickness, 
loss, disappointment, sorrow, trial. At first we are 
terrified ; but in the end, when the storms have 
cleared away, we find that the dark clouds we so 
dreaded were but God's messengers to bring to us 
rich blessings of grace. 

God bends from out the deep, and says, 
" I gave thee of my seed to sow ; 

Bringest thou me my hundred-fold? " 
Can I look up with face aglow, 

And answer, " Father, here is gold "? 

J. R. Lowell. 

("4) 



April 24. 

Some seeds fell by the wayside . . . others fell upon 
the rocky places . . . others fell upon the thorns. — 
St. Matthew xiii. 4, 5, 7. 

FROM the heart trodden by passing feet of pleas- 
ure, business, or care, the birds carry off the 
seeds the moment they are cast from the sower's 
hand. On the heart with a thin, emotional stratum 
on its surface, the seed seems for a time to make a 
deep impression. The hearer weeps under the ser- 
mon. He is amazed at the coldness of ordinary 
Christians. But in a little time it is all over. He 
has no depth of conviction, and the quick growths of 
his first faith are soon withered in the heat of life's 
trials. 

In the heart filled with the briers and thorns of 
earthly care, ambition, and pleasure, the seed has 
little chance to grow. All around the feeble stalks 
grow the hardier briers and thorns, whose hungry 
roots and stems absorb the soil's nourishment, leav- 
ing the wheat robbed and starved. There is much 
of such Christian life as this. Its possibilities are 
withered, stunted, choked to death by worldliness 
or by care. No fruit comes to anything beautiful 
in such lives. 

It is discouraging to think that so much of the 
good seed sown comes to naught, fails through 
unfavorable conditions. Yet we should never falter 
in our sowing, praying God to watch over his own 
holy seed. 

("5) 



April 25. 

Take heed therefore how ye hear — St. Luke viii. 18. 

TT "TE hear a great deal about the " fearful respon- 
V V sibility " of those who preach and teach the 
word of God. No doubt it is a solemn thing to speak 
for God to men. Those who are called to this duty 
should be very faithful. But there is also a " fear- 
ful responsibility " attached to hearing the word. 
One of our Lord's most earnest words was : " Take 
heed how ye hear." 

When the preacher's work is done in the right 
way, his responsibility ceases, and that of the hearer 
begins. He has heard the truth ; what will he do 
with it ? Will he believe it and accept it ? Or will 
he reject it? He cannot be again as if he had 
never heard it. It must be either a savor of life or 
a savor of death to him. Not only must he account 
for the opportunity of hearing, but he is also af- 
fected in his own spirit by the hearing. If he 
listens and yields to the influences of the truth, his 
heart grows softer ; but if he rejects it, he is hard- 
ened by it. 

No sermon or other message of truth, heard or 
read, leaves a man as it finds him. It makes 
some impression — what, is determined by what 
the hearer does with it. We need to think a little 
of this side of the responsibility. We are hearing 
much that is good these passing days ; it would be 
sad if nothing came of it all. 



(116) 



April 26. 

There was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it 
light by night. — Exodus xiv. 20. 

GOD appears different to his friends and to his 
enemies. To his own people he is light* 
comfort, joy, protection, and gladness ; but to those 
who reject him he is darkness, awful terror, and 
stern judgment. The thought of God's presence 
fills the Christian with confidence and peace, with 
the warmth of love ; but the same thought makes 
the unreconciled sinner tremble. " I thought upon 
God, and was troubled." 

The providence of God, too, has this same double 
aspect. The Christian sees love everywhere. He 
sees his Father's hand ordering all things with lov- 
ing wisdom. When he cannot understand he can 
trust and wait in confidence. But to the unrecon- 
ciled man the same providence is a dark mystery, 
full of dread and alarm. He has no sense of safety 
anywhere he may go. There is no assurance of 
protection, no consciousness of love, anywhere in 
the universe for him. 

Death to the ungodly is a heavy cloud, charged 
with lightnings and thunders ; but to the Christian 
it is a glorious blaze of divine love pouring bright- 
ness and peace all about his bed. It will be the 
same on the day of judgment. To his own people 
Christ on his throne will be all glorious, and his 
appearance will give unspeakable joy ; but to the 
ungodly his presence will be an appearance of the 
most appalling terror. 

("7) 



April 27. 

Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right ? 
— Genesis xviii. 25. 

SOME people worry about the fate of the heathen, 
and ask if God can be just and do so and so. 
A great deal better solution of such perplexities is 
Abraham's : " Shall not the Judge of all the earth 
do right ? " Surely we can trust him with all such 
things, and leave them in his hands. 

Others have perplexity concerning the apparent 
want of justness in the allotments of earth. Some 
good people have little but trouble here, and some 
wicked people have very much worldly favor. We 
have the same truth on which to rest all such seem- 
ing inequities. God will surely do right. What we 
call trouble may have more real blessing in it than 
what we call prosperity. Then, the end of life is 
not here. God has eternity in which to adjust 
the equities. 

There are other people who think that their own 
lot is very hard. They complain about their trials 
and disappointments, and are discontented with 
what God does for them and gives them. They 
say God is good ; yet they imply by their queru- 
lousness that he is not good. This word of Abra- 
ham's should rebuke all such complaints. Sooner 
might the heavens fall than that in any smallest 
thing God could do aught but what is absolutely 
right and just. 

" Commit thy way unto the Lord; 

Trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass." 
(11S) 



April 28. 

When . . . the feet of the priests . . . were dipped 
in the bri?ik of the water . . . the waters . . . stood, 
and rose up in one heap, a great way off . . . and the 
people passed over, — Joshu a iii. 15, 16. 

GOD does not open paths for us in advance 
of our coming. He does not promise to 
help before help is needed. He does not remove 
obstacles out of our way before we reach them. 
Yet when we are on the edge of our need, God's 
hand is stretched out. 

Many people forget this, and are forever worry- 
ing about difficulties which they foresee in the 
future. They expect that God is going to make the 
way plain and open before them, miles and miles 
ahead, whereas he has promised to do it only step 
by step as they move on. There is a promise which 
reads : " When thou passeth through the waters, I 
will be with thee." You must get to the waters 
and into their floods before you can claim this 
promise. 

Many people dread death, and lament that they 
have not "dying grace." Of course they will not 
have dying grace when they are in good health, 
in the midst of life's duties, with death far in 
advance. Why should they have it then ? Grace 
for duty is what they need then, living grace ; then 
dying grace when they come to die. When their 
feet are dipped in the brim of Jordan, the torrent 
will sink away. 

("9) 



April 29. 

And Joshua said unto them, If thou be a great peo- 
ple, get thee up to the forest, and cut down for thyself 
there i?i the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim ; 
since the hill cou?itry of Ephraim is too narrow for 
thee. — Joshua xvii. 15. 

IT is the part of true wisdom to live our life in 
its actual conditions, not calculating what we 
could do or could be if we had certain other cir- 
cumstances, but rather accepting the conditions in 
which we must live, and making them serve us with 
opportunities for being noble and doing worthy 
things. Says Robert Browning, — 

The common problem, yours, mine, every one's, 
Is, not to fancy what were fair in life 
Provided it could be — but, finding first 
What may be, then find how to make it fair 
Up to our means. A very different thing. 

The learning of this bit of practical wisdom will 
be worth more to many of us than any change of 
circumstances or conditions could be. 

" I like the man who faces what he must, 

With step triumphant and a heart of cheer; 
Who fights the daily battle without fear; 

Sees his hopes fail, yet keeps unfaltering trust 

That God is God, — that, somehow, true and just, 
His plans work out for mortals; not a tear 
Is shed when fortune, which the world holds dear, 

Falls from his grasp ; better, with love, a crust, 

Than living in dishonor; envies not, 

Nor loses faith in man; but does his best, 

Nor ever murmurs at his humbler lot, 

But, with a smile and words of hope, gives zest 

To every toiler: he alone is great, 

Who by a life heroic conquers fate." 

(120) 



April 30. 

Now there was leani?ig on Jesus 1 bosom one of his 
disciples, whom Jesus loved, — St. John xiii. 23. 

I LIKE the word leaning. John leaned his 
weight on Jesus, on his breast, near his heart. 
We need to learn better our privilege of leaning, 
nestling, in the bosom of divine love. We think of 
giving a few of our burdens to Christ ; but he wants 
to carry both us and all our load. 

A gentleman was moving his library, and his boy 
was helping him. The child had gathered his arms 
full, and had gone off proudly with his load. Pres- 
ently, however, the father heard a call for help. 
The little fellow had gotten half-way up the stairs 
when the burden proved too heavy, and he sank 
down. The father heard the call, and, coming up 
the stairs, lifted and carried both the boy and his 
load. 

That is like what Jesus will do for us. He takes 
our sins, and puts them away. He takes our wicked 
heart, and changes it. He takes our ruined life, and 
restores it. He takes all our mistakes and sins, and 
corrects them. He takes into his hands the order- 
ing of our steps, the shaping of our circumstances, 
the ruling and overruling of the events of our days, 
our deliverance in temptation. We really have 
nothing whatever to do with our own life but our 
simple duty day by day, hour by hour. 

" In the light and pity of thy face 
The burden melts away." 



May 1. 

This do in remembrance of me. — St. Luke xxii. 19. 

A YOUNG man came to me one morning hold- 
ing a letter in his hand. Opening it, he 
showed me some pressed flowers and leaves. " My 
sister gathered these from my mother's grave," he 
said, with a voice soft and tender. Then he told 
me about his mother, — her beautiful life, her deeds 
of self-denial, her loving counsels, her prayers, lin- 
gering especially on her long illness, when she faded 
like a flower. 

" It was ten years ago," he said, " ten years ago, 
this very day, that she died ; but it seems as if it 
were only yesterday." The faded flowers and 
leaves from her English grave had brought back 
the memories in all their vividness. 

Perhaps you have in your home some memento 
of a departed friend. Every time you see it, it re- 
calls your friend. This suggests why Jesus gave 
us the Last Supper. He would keep his love and 
death always fresh in our mind. " My people will 
forget me," he said, " and what I have suffered for 
them. The memory of my sacrifice will fade out as 
the years pass. I will give them this memorial, so 
that each time they take the bread and the cup 
they may freshly remember me." So all these cen- 
turies the Lord's Supper has kept the memory of 
the love and sacrifice of Christ fresh in the hearts 
of his people, and this memory has made all the 
world sweeter and gentler. 

(122) 



May 2. 

Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, 
cvid from thy father 's house, unto the land that I will 
shew thee. — Genesis xii. i. 

ALL noble life begins with sacrifice. To gain 
the higher, the lower must be given up. We 
must get out of our own country, before we can get 
into God's country. We can have the better only 
by giving up the less valuable. God calls us all to 
leave the old, in order to enter the new. It may 
not be literally to leave country, kindred, and home, 
and go out into a strange land ; but in a spiritual 
sense it always is just this. If we would follow 
Christ, we must cut loose from the world, and go 
out with him. 

Perhaps there is too great a tendency in these 
days to try to follow Christ without cutting loose 
from the world. Too many people imagine that 
they can take the pilgrimage to Canaan without 
leaving Ur. But this is quite impossible. We can 
get to our land of promise only by leaving all, and 
following where Christ leads. This means that we 
must give up this world as our portion, and take 
the heavenly inheritance instead ; we cannot keep 
both. The rich man who came to Christ could not 
sacrifice his earthly possessions, and therefore could 
not get the heavenly riches. 

Faith shares the future's promise; love's 

Self-offering is a triumph won; 
And each good thought or action moves 

The dark world nearer to the sun. 

J. G. Whittier, 

( I2 3) 



May 3. 

/ will bless thee . . . and be thou a blessing. — 
Genesis xii. 2. 

THAT is God's offer and message to all of us. 
He wants to bless us, and then he wants 
us in turn to be a blessing to others. God's way 
is to send very many of his good things through 
human mediators. When he would bless a little 
child, he puts a gift of wondrous love into a 
mother's heart. When he would bless a class of 
young people or children, he sends a teacher with 
a heart full of warm sympathy and earnest interest 
in life. When he would bless a community, he 
raises up a good man, and touches his heart, that 
he may scatter benefits among the people. 

W T hen God enriches us with gifts of whatever 
kind, he wants them to be blessings to others. 
Nothing that we have is ours for ourselves alone ; 
we receive that we may dispense. When God gives 
a man money, he intends him to use it so as to 
make it a blessing to the world. When God be- 
stows upon any one the gift of song, of eloquence, 
of the artist's power, he desires these gifts to be 
used to make men better and happier. We should 
never live for ourselves. We should seek always 
to live so as to make the world purer, truer, richer, 
sweeter. 

He liveth long who liveth well; 

All else is being flung away : 
He liveth longest who can tell 

Of true things truly done each day. 

Bonar. 

( I2 4) 



May 4. 

Jacob was left alone ; and there wrestled a man with 
him until the breaking of the day. — Genesis xxxii. 24. 

WE are all having our Jabboks continually. We 
are coming face to face with wrestlers in 
the darkness. We go away from our wrestling, too, 
many a time, carrying the marks of wounding ; and 
yet in the experience we have gotten blessing. 

That touch on the hollow of Jacob's thigh was 
the touch that withered the old boasted strength. 
You say Jacob was victorious. Yes ; but when ? 
Not while he wrestled, but after his thigh was out 
of joint and he could wrestle no more. He wound 
his sinewy arms about the neck of his antagonist, 
and clung, saying, " I will not let thee go except 
thou bless me." That was the way he prevailed 
— not in the old way of cunning, but by having 
the old man crippled, defeated, and then by the 
new way of trust and clinging. 

" Soul of mine, 

Wouldst thou not choose for life a motto half divine ? 

Let this be thy guard and guide 

Through the future, reaching wide: 

Whether good or ill betide, 

Rise higher. 

From the mire 
Where the masses blindly grovel, rise higher ! 
From the slavish love of gold, 
From the justice bought and sold, 
From the narrow rules of old, 
Rise higher." 

(^5) 



May 5. 

So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if 
ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. 
— Matthew xviii. 35. 

IF we have truly received the divine forgiveness, 
we will be forgiving toward others. As one 
says, " If you get pardon from God, you will give it 
to a brother ; if you withhold it from your brother, 
you thereby make it manifest that you have not 
gotten it from God." So we are brought face to 
face with a most solemn practical teaching which 
we«dare not ignore. Have we the forgiving spirit? 
Can we sincerely pray, " Forgive us our debts, as we 
forgive our debtors "? No doubt the lesson is hard, 
for it is so against nature ; yet we all know by ex- 
perience that the cherishing of resentment never 
brings peace to our hearts. People say, " Revenge 
is sweet;" but it is not true. It really makes bit- 
terness for him who cherishes it. The gratification 
of a moment becomes pain afterward. 

Revenge is a naked sword; 

It has neither hilt nor guard. 
Wouldst thou wield this brand of the Lord? 

Is thy grasp then firm and hard? 

But the closer thy clutch of the blade, 
The deadlier blow thou wouldst deal, 

Deeper wound in the hand is made — 
It is thy blood reddens the steel. 

And when thou hast dealt the blow — 

When the blade from thy hand has flown — 

Instead of the heart of the foe, 

Thou mayst find it sheathed in thine own. 

Charles Henry Webb. 

(126) 



May 6. 

There were some that had indignation . . . say- 
ing, l^o what purpose hath this waste of the ointment 
been made ? — St. Mark xiv. 4. 

THERE are some who think every sacrifice for 
Christ's sake is a waste. They think that 
money which is given to build churches, or to send 
missionaries to the heathen, is wasted. They think 
that lives are wasted which are devoted to Christ 
and sacrificed in his service. But is it so ? Is it 
really the money that is spent in advancing Christ's 
kingdom that is wasted ? Are they the wasted lives 
that are emptied out in love for Christ? There is 
money that is wasted ; but it is that which is used 
for selfish and sinful purposes, or squandered in 
the mere extravagances of worldliness. There are 
lives that are wasted ; but they are those which are 
thrown away in evil courses, sacrificed in pleasure, 
in dissipation, in lust, in passion's fires. 

Indeed, all lives are wasted which are not lost for 
Christ's sake ; for did he not say, " He that saveth 
his life shall lose it " ? To withhold one's life from 
Christ is therefore to waste it. It has been noted 
as very suggestive that our Lord uses the self-same 
word for " wasted " when he describes Judas as a 
" son of perdition." Judas had wasted that which 
was more precious than the ointment of spikenard, 
even the gift of eternal life which once had been 
within his reach. What we give to Christ is indeed 
all that we do not waste of our life and of our 
substance. 

(127) 



May 7. 

Rejoice in the Lord alway : again I will say. Rejoice. 
— Philippians iv. 4. 

THE Bible insists upon joy as an element of 
Christian life. Christ spoke of his desire 
that the disciples should have his joy fulfilled in 
themselves. St. Paul exhorts Christians to rejoice 
always, and speaks of joy as one of the fruits of the 
Spirit. 

Christian joy is not hilarity. One may be sorrow- 
ful, and yet have the joy of the Lord in the heart. 
It is an inner joy — a fountain in the heart, supplied 
from heaven. Every Christian should have this 
joy. It belongs to the ideal of the complete Chris- 
tian character. It is very evident, however, that 
there are many Christians who do not have it. 
Their spirits go up and down like the mercury in 
the tube of the thermometer, varying with the at- 
mosphere. When things are pleasant they have 
joy. When circumstances are hard or painful they 
have no joy. 

We ought to know how to get the joy of Christ. 
One secret is absolute devotion to the will of God. 
Another is serving others. Only as we learn to live 
the life of love — " Not to be ministered unto, but 
to minister " — can we find true, deep joy. Every 
self-denial or sacrifice of love for another's sake 
adds to the Christian's joy. We reach the ideal 
life only as joy lives in our heart, and shines out in 
our life. 

(128) 



May 8. 

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, — 
St. Matthew vi. 28. 

GOD looks up at us from every sweet flower that 
blooms. The beauty that fills our earth is a 
pledge to us of God's thought and love for us. We 
all know the familiar story of the great traveller who 
was saved from perishing on the desert where he 
had fallen, faint and famishing for water, by seeing 
a little speck of green moss peeping up out of the 
hot sand. This gleam of life assured him that God 
must be near, thus putting new hope into his heart, 
and giving him strength to rise and struggle on 
until he found water. Every plant or flower should 
remind us of God, make us reverent. A writer 
says, — 

" We are not left of God 
So long as a rose blooms at our window-pane ; 
So long as the sun shines, and the soft rain 
Calls forth the early violets from the sod. 
If but a wild brier by our pathway nod, 
After its winter death wakened again, 
Seeing its life we may forget our^paih 
Of unbelief. Who bringsjforth life but God? 
He stains with tender tint the lily's lip;' 
Feeds with incessant care the insect crew; 
Drops honey for the wandering bee to sip 
In a white chalice set with pearls of dew. 
The glow-worm hath its lamp; the firefly's light 
Is but a pledge of love writ on the night." 



(129) 



May 9. 

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. — 
Isaiah xl. i. 

COMFORT is a very sweet word. It has music 
in it for those who are in trouble. And most 
people have some trouble. This word was spoken 
hrst to captives. There are a great many captives 
— people carried away from home into a strange 
land. Many people are in bondage of sorrow ; it 
is hard to find a home without its grief. Many are 
in bondage of circumstances : life is too hard for 
them. There is a great deal of poverty in the world. 
But here is God's gospel : " Comfort ye my people." 
Few words are more misunderstood, however, 
than the Bible word comfort. Many people think 
it means mere condolence — to sit down with suf- 
ferers and weep with them, pitying them, but doing 
nothing to lift them up. But God's comfort is no 
such weak, sentimental thing as this. He never 
merely sits down with us in passive yielding to 
trouble. He comes to deliver us, to lead us out 
of our bondage, to make us victorious over trial 
or sorrow. There is always in Bible comfort the 
thought of strength. Xo bondage is hopeless under 
the skies of divine love. The stars shine into the 
deepest dungeon. There is not in any prison in 
this world a captive to whom the gospel does not 
come with its " Speak ye comfortably." 



(130) 



May 10. 

My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your 
ways my ways, saith the Lord. — Isaiah lv. 8. 

IT is well indeed that God's ways differ from ours. 
For example, if God's forgiveness were like 
ours it would do us little good. We hold our petty 
grudges and resentments ; we remember men's 
smallest unkindnesses to us, allowing them to im- 
bitter our love, and stop the flow of our affections. 
We profess to forgive, but retain the grudge in our 
heart. 

But God's ways of forgiving are not as our ways. 
He forgives the worst of sinners, the greatest of 
sins, and the largest number of transgressions. In 
the parable, it was God who forgave the ten thou- 
sand talents ; and it was a man who would not for- 
give his fellow the miserable pittance of a hundred 
pence. The most wonderful thing in this universe 
is God's forgiveness. We ought to be thankful for 
it ; for if it were less we could not be saved. Then, 
when we have received it, we ought to let itsj>pirit 
work in our heart, to change us into its own image. 
We pray, " Forgive us as we forgive." If we mean 
this, we should look well to the kind of forgiveness 
we show to others." 

Thy way, not mine, O Lord, 
^ However dark it be : 

Lead me by thine own hand, 

Choose out the path for me, 
Smooth let it be or rough, 

It will be still the best; 
Winding or straight, it leads 

Right onward to thy rest. 



(131) 



BONAR. 



May 11. 

I was an himgred, a?id ye gave me no meat . . . 
sick, and in prison, and ye visited me ?iot. — St. 
Matthew xxv. 42, 43. 

NOT the doing of things they ought not to have 
done here determines the doom of the un- 
righteous, but the not doing of things they ought 
to have done. They had not been cruel or unkind 
to any of Christ's little ones — no such charge is 
made. They had not wronged any one. Only 
neglects are mentioned. They had seen " little 
ones " hungry, and had not fed them ; thirsty, 
and had not given them drink ; naked, and had 
not clothed them ; sick, and had not visited them. 
They had merely " passed by on the other side " 
when they saw human need and misery which they 
might have relieved. Yet their omissions and neg- 
lects count as actual sins. 

Many of us are apt to neglect opportunities of 
helping others and of relieving distress, never think- 
ing that we are sinning against Christ ; that is, are 
leaving him unhelped and unrelieved in distress, 
when we might have given him comfort. The re- 
sult of the teaching should be to make us more 
thoughtful of others. and f more alert to embrace 
every opportunity of ministry to others in Christ's 
name. It is because we do not think that we fail 
so often in love's duty. 

" And yet it was never in my soul, 
To play so ill a part; 
But evil is wrought by want of thought 
As well as want of heart." 

(!3 2 ) 



May 12. 

But judge ye this rather, that no man put a stum- 
bling-block in his brother's way. — Romans xiv. 13. 

INSTEAD of keeping our eye ever on others, 
looking for faults and mistakes in them, we 
are to look to our own example, lest something 
we do may hurt others' lives, or cause them to 
do wrong. If every one would do this, it would 
go far toward making a paradise of this world of 
thorns and briers. We easily get in the habit of 
overlooking our own faults, or imagining that we 
are well-nigh perfect, while in reality our life is 
full of inconsistencies. We dash at our neigh- 
bor's eye, to pull out some little mote we imagine 
we see in it, while at the same time we have a great 
beam in our own eye which sadly disfigures us, and 
is a reproach to us in the sight of others. 

The habit of judging and condemning others is 
usually a great deal more serious blemish than are 
the things we so glibly point out as flaws or faults. 
The first duty of every Christian is to make sure 
that he lays no stumbling-block in others' way. 
It is said that Rutherford B. Hayes did not carry a 
watch. When he was a young man his watch was 
twice stolen, and the thief each time was arrested 
and imprisoned. Mr. Hayes then resolved never to 
wear a watch, because twice his carrying one had 
made a temptation for another. We may call this 
excessive conscientiousness, but we can scarcely 
overdo in this duty. 



May 13. 

Who by the power of God are guarded through 
faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the 
last time. — i Peter i. 5. 

IT is related of a saintly man, that by his own 
request his only epitaph was " Kept." We are . 
all kept, if we do not fall away into the darkness of 
eternal death, by the power of God unto final salva- 
tion. Only those who overcome at last get home to 
glory. Only Christ can help us to be conquerors. 
And important as was his death for us, his real 
work in saving us is that which he does with us, 
one by one, in keeping us, guiding us, giving us 
grace for living, lifting us up when we have fallen, 
bringing us back when we have wandered away. 
Were it not for the patient, watchful, never-wearying 
love of Christ, not one of us would ever get home. 
We are kept. 

This divine keeping comes to us in many ways. 
We believe in angel guardianship. Then there is 
human guardianship. The mother is her child's first 
keeper. Robert Browning says that even " angels 
are less tenderwise than God and mothers ; " and 
the old rabbis used to say that God could not be 
everywhere present, and therefore he made mothers. 
All through life God gives human guardians who 
become helpers of our faith. Then we have ever 
the real divine presence in which we find perfect 
keeping. "The Lord is thy keeper." 



(134) 



May 14. 

/ am come down to deliver them . . . and to bring 
them . . . unto a good land. — Exodus iii. 8. 

WEEPING may endure for a night, but joy 
cometh in the morning. The night may 
grow very dark, but the morning will break. " We 
must through much tribulation enter the kingdom 
of God;" but notice the word "through." "The 
valley of the shadow of death" lies in the path ; but 
we are to pass through it, and beyond comes, " I 
will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." 
After Egypt and its bondage comes the " good 
land and large." So it is always. After winter, 
with its death and desolation, comes spring with 
its flowers, fruits, harvests, and life. After earth 
with its sorrows, comes heaven, where joy shall 
be eternal. 

"After the shower the tranquil sun; 
After the snow the emerald leaves; 
Silver stars when the day is done; 

After the harvest the golden she aves. 

After the clouds the violet sky; 

After the tempest the lulPbf waves; 
Quiet woods when the winds go by; 

After the battle, peaceful graves. 

After the knell the wedding-bells; 

After the bud the radiant rose; 
Joyful greetings from sad farewells; 

After our weeping, sweet repose. 

After the burden the blissful meed; 

After the flight the downy rest ; 
After the furrow the waking seed; 

After the shadowy river — rest ! " 

(135) 



May 15. 

Bring them down unto the water, and I will try 
them for thee there. — Judges vii. 4. 

THE way the men drank water from the brook 
was the test of their fitness for the work of 
conquering the Midianites. It seemed to make the 
smallest difference in the world whether a soldier 
drank by bowing down with his face in the water, 
or by lapping up the water with his hand as he 
stood ; yet it was a difference that settled the 
question of fitness or unfitness for the great work 
before the army. 

It is in just such little ways, and in such matters 
of everyday and commonplace action, conduct, and 
manner, that God is always testing us and deciding 
whether we are fit or unfit for the greater work for 
which he is seeking men. By the way a boy lives 
at home, by the way he treats his parents, by the 
way he performs his duties at school, by the spirit 
he shows on the play-ground, by the diligence or 
the want of it which he displays in the store or 
office in which he is first employed — by the way he 
acts in all these relations and duties, the question 
is being settled to what greater responsibilities the 
Lord will call him in after-days. Every young girl, 
by the way she deports herself in her girlhood, at 
home, at school, at play, and in all the days of 
youth, is settling the place in life she shall fill in 
full womanhood and strength. We cannot know 
what future honor may depend on the way we do 
the simplest, most commonplace thing to-day. 

(136) 



May 16. 

Therefore the childre7i of Israel cannot stand before 
their ene?nies. — Joshua vii. 12. 

THIS is the only record in the Book of Joshua 
of a lost battle. The word " therefore " tells 
us that it was a sin that caused this defeat, a secret 
sin, and the sin, too, of but one individual. How 
little do we know of the real causes of the failures 
we see about us ! 

All of us have our Ais, too, our defeats in battle ; 
and very often they come just after our Jerichos. 
It was only a little town, too, at which this disaster 
occurred, so small that it was thought unnecessary to 
send more than a handful of soldiers to take it. Is 
it not often just so in our spiritual warfare ? One 
writes, " Our greatest failures often happen in the 
little things of life. We miscalculate the strength 
of the foe ; we fail to spy out the reserved forces. 
Indeed, we mistake, when we think it an easy mat- 
ter to subdue any enemy. How often has it hap- 
pened that he who has won his most signal victory 
in some great crisis of the church, who has rescued 
the truth from the teachers of false doctrine, or 
stormed the- intrenchments of vice, has forthwith 
failed in some petty domestic disturbance, in some 
social duty, or in a trifling claim of common charity ? 
If there be a time in life when we need more than 
ever to watch and pray lest we enter into tempta- 
tion, it is in the hour of success." 



037) 



May 17. 

The Lord heareth your murmuri?igs which ye mur- 
mur against him. — Exodus xvi. 8. 

" l^vOES God really hear every discontented word 
YJ I ever speak ? Does he hear when I grumble 
about the weather, about the hard winter, about the 
late spring, about the dry summer, about the wet 
harvest, about the grub-worm and the grasshopper ? 
Does he hear when I grumble about the frosts, about 
the drought, about the high winds, and about the 
storms ? Does he hear when I scold about my cir- 
cumstances, about the hardness of my lot, about my 
losses and disappointments ? " 

If we could get into our heart, and keep there 
continually, the consciousness that every word we 
speak is heard up in heaven, would we murmur so 
much as we now do ? We are very careful of our 
speech before men. We are always on our guard 
when we think anybody is within hearing, and speak 
only proper words. Are we as careful what we say 
in the hearing of heaven ? We are careful, too, 
never to speak words which would give pain to the 
hearts of those we love. Are we as careful not to 
say anything that will grieve our heavenly Father ? 

If the world seems cold to you, 

Kindle fires to warm it ; 
Let their comfort hide from view 

Winters that deform it. 
Hearts as frozen as your own 

To that radiance gather : 
You will soon forget to moan 

" Ah, the cheerless weather ! " 

Lucy Larcom. 

(138) 



May 18. 

All the women that were wise hearted did spin with 
their hands. — Exodus xxxv. 25. 

IT didn't spoil their hands a bit either. Some 
dainty women " toil not, neither do they spin." 
They keep their hands soft and white. They think 
any kind of work would mar the delicate beauty of 
their fingers. But they make a great mistake. The 
hands that are beautiful in heaven's sight are not the 
dainty ones that are never roughened or hardened 
by toil. Anything is beautiful just in the measure 
in which it fulfils the mission for which it was made. 
Hands were made to work; and an idle, useless 
hand, no matter how delicate and fair, is not a 
lovely hand. 

" Beautiful hands are those that do 
Work that is earnest and brave and true, 
Moment by moment, the long day through." 

These ancient women had learned to spin, and 
now they spun for God. Here we see how every- 
day gifts and occupations may be turned over into 
God's service^ The young women of to-day do not 
spin much — many of them never saw a distaff or a 
spinning-wheel ; but they have other common ac- 
quirements which they may consecrate to Christ. 

" The sweetest lives are those to duty wed, 
Whose deeds, both great and small, 
Are close-knit strands of an unbroken thread, 

Where love ennobles all. 
The world may sound no trumpets, ring no bells; 
The book of life the shining record tells." 

O39) 



May 19. 

And brought . . . the blue, and the purple, the scar- 
let, a?id the fine I men. — Exodus xxxv. 25. 

WHEN the ancient Hebrews were preparing to 
make a tabernacle for God, they brought the 
richest and best things they had. They looked on 
their heirlooms and their most prized possessions, 
and took out for God the things that were dearest 
and most sacred. 

We should follow the same rule when we are 
giving to God or for God. When we make presents 
to those we love tenderly, we are at great pains to 
get the best and loveliest gifts we can find. But do 
we always bring Christ the best ? Do we give him 
the best of our heart's affections ? Do we bring 
him the best of our life, — our youth, our energy, 
our most vigorous powers ? Do we do our best 
work in his service ? Are our gifts for him the 
most precious things we possess ? 

These Israelites brought their bracelets, ear-rings, 
and rings, and all their jewels of gold. They had 
nothing that was too good or too precious to be 
offered to God. Is it thus with us ? Do not we 
sometimes bring to God the very smallest gifts we 
can find ? We keep for ourselves the bright gold 
and the large bills, and give him the nickels and 
pennies. So of our time, of our thought, our skill, 
our energy. We put him off too often with what is 
left over, when we have served ourselves. 



(140) 



May 20. 

Thou shalt put upon Aaron the holy garments. — 
Exodus xl. 13. 

ONE feature of the high priest's dress was very 
suggestive. On each shoulder, in the golden 
clasp that fastened together the two parts of the 
ephod, was an onyx stone, on which were engraved 
the names of six of the tribes of Israel. Thus, in 
an emblematic way, the high priest bore the people 
on his shoulder, the place of strength. He was a 
type of Christ ; thus Christ carries his people on 
his shoulder, bearing them and their burdens. 

Another feature of this dress was the breastplate 
which was worn by the high priest. It had in it 
twelve precious stones, with the names of the twelve 
tribes engraved on them. This the priest wore on 
his breast over his heart. When he went in before 
God he thus represented all the people. He not 
only carried them on his shoulder, for support and 
upholding, but near his heart, for affection. So 
Christ carries his people in his heart, in deep, 
tender, unchanging love. Thus we are sure of both 
the strength and the love of Christ in our interest. 

" He bears the names of all his saints 
Deep on his heart engraved; 
Attention to the states and wants 
Of all his love has saved. 

In him my weary soul has rest, 

Though I am weak and vile ; 
I read my name upon his breast, 

And see the Father smile." 



May 21. 

Dead flies eause the ointme?it of the perfumer to send 
forth a stinking savour : so doth a little folly outweigh 
wisdom and honor, — Ecclesiastes x. i. 

IT is sad to see how some strong and noble char- 
acters are marred by little, yet grievous, faults 
and blemishes. One man is generous, but he de- 
sires always to have his charity praised. Another 
is disposed to be kind and helpful, but by his man- 
ner hurts or humiliates the one he befriends. An- 
other is unselfish and devout, but is careless of 
promises and engagements. He makes appoint- 
ments, and never thinks of them again. He bor- 
rows money, and does not repay it. His friends 
say, " He is so forgetful ! " Yes ; but how his for- 
getfulness mars his character and hurts his in- 
fluence ! Forgetfulness is worse than an amiable 
weakness ; it is a sin. 

Whenever self crops out in conduct or disposi- 
tion, it is a dead fly in the ointment. Untruthful- 
ness is a blot in all eyes. It makes little difference 
that a person is not intentionally at fault in the 
things that so mar his life. Carelessness and 
thoughtlessness are themselves such serious moral 
blemishes that they make impossible any excuse 
for delinquencies resulting from them. We need 
to look to the infinitesimals that make perfection 
or mar it. No fault is too small to be worth curing, 
and no fragment of beauty is too small to be worth 
setting in the mosaic of character. 

(142) 



May 22. 

He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their 
wounds. — Psalm cxlvii. 3. 

IT is said that when one branch of a tree is 
bruised, all the tree begins to pour of its life 
toward the wounded place, to restore it. Is it not 
thus that Christ does when one of his own is 
bruised by sorrow ? " Blessed are they that mourn ; 
for they shall be comforted." 

There are fields where once fierce battles raged, 
great armies contended, and blood flowed, but 
where now the birds sing sweet songs, in summer 
days flowers bloom, meadows are green with waving 
grass, and ripening harvests bend. So there are 
homes where once sorrow's dark clouds hung, tears 
flowed, and cries of grief were heard, but where 
now joyous songs ring out, and glad faces smile. 
God's comfort has healed the waste. 

There are many ways in which God restores sor- 
row's devastation. He sends new blessings instead 
of the old which lie' took away, as new flowers come 
in place of those that fade. He hides a blessing, 
too, in the very heart of the sorrow itself. Grief is 
like the cloud which comes with its dark portents 
into the blue summer sky. It blots out the blue, 
and fills the air with terrors. The lightnings flash, 
the thunders roll ; but out of the bosom of the 
blackness pours the soft rain. So sorrow's cloud 
comes with dark, portentous aspect ; but it empties 
blessings upon the life, thus carrying in itself its 
own power of restoration. 

(143) 



May 23. 

Whe?i saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto 
thee? — St. Matthew xxv. 39. 

TRUE goodness is not conscious of itself. Moses 
wist not that his face shone. The noblest 
Christians put the lowest value on their own good 
works. No doubt many of the commendations and 
rewards of the righteous in the judgment will be 
surprises to them. They keep no record of their 
own good deeds. Their own sense of personal 
unworthiness hinders their seeing anything worthy 
in their ministrations. 

Besides, we do not see Christ in the lowly and 
the suffering ones who come before us needing love 
and help ; we see only poor, sick, unfortunate peo- 
ple, with no outshining of glory, no hints of nobility, 
no marks of heavenly beauty. There is a picture 
which, seen in ordinary light, shows only a very 
poor man dying in a miserable garret, with tokens 
of abject poverty on all sides ; but seen in another 
light it represents a throng of angels waiting to 
bear a child of God up to glory. We do not see 
things as they are. Jesus himself is ever before us 
in lowly disguise. We are unconsciously serving 
the Master himself whenever we do in his name the 
lowly things of love. Every consecrated Christian 
is preparing for himself many a blessed surprise of 
reward and glory when he enters the fuller, richer 
life of heaven, where all the results of service and 
all the fruits of kindness shall be revealed. 

044) 



May 24. 

That which is born of the Spirit is spirit, — St. 
John iii. 6. 

LIKE produces like. To be born of the Spirit 
j is to have a new life imparted by the Spirit. 
This new life will be like that which produces it. 
Every one who is born of God will have some fea- 
tures of God's likeness. He will love the things 
that God loves, and hate the things that. God hates. 
He will be like God in holiness, in unselfishness, 
in gentleness, in patience, in forgiveness, in truth- 
fulness, in love. 

If we would know what God is like we have only 
to look at Jesus Christ, for he was the image of God ; 
and if we are born again, we shall have the same 
features in our lives. They will be dim at first ; but 
they will come out clearer and clearer each day, as 
we go on. 

We can tell whether or not we are born again by 
looking closely at ourselves to see if we have the 
marks of the Spirit in our life. Do we hate sin ? 
Do we love holiness ? Do we love the Bible and 
prayer and the services of the church and the 
Lord's Supper? 

We have the same thought presented by St. Paul 
under the figure of the seal. Christians are sealed 
by the Spirit. The seal impresses its own features 
on the wax. So the Holy Spirit seals believers by 
stamping his own image on their hearts. Those 
who have received the Spirit will bear the marks 
of his beauty in their lives. 

(*45) 



May 25. 

The fruit of the Spirit is love. — Galatians v. 22. 

THE sum of all practical religion is love. " Love 
is the fulfilling of the law." All Christian 
growth is to be toward the likeness of Christ, and 
all his character is summed up in love. Whatever 
is unloving in us is un-Christian ; and we should 
seek to overcome the evil with good. Perhaps the 
ordinary Christian conscience has not been suffi- 
ciently exacting on this line of character and duty. 
It demands truthfulness, justice, honesty, purity ; but 
does it not too easily tolerate bad temper, resent- 
ment, and other phases of unamiableness, in those 
who are professing Christians ? 

Pour forth the oil, — pour boldly forth; 

It will not fail until 
Thou failest vessels to provide, 

Which it may freely fill. 

But then, when such are found no more, 

Though flowing broad and free 
Till then, and nourished from on high, 

It straightway stanched will be. 

Dig channels for the streams of Love, 

Where they may broadly run; 
And Love has overflowing streams 

To fill them every one. 

For we must share if we would keep 

That good thing from above; 

Ceasing to give, we cease to have, — 

Such is the law of Love. 

R. C. Trench. 

(146) 



May 26. 

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. — Revela- 
tion i. 10. 

WE should all seek to be in the Spirit on the 
Lord's day. During the week we have our 
cares of business, and our hands are full of work 
that must be done. The world is apt to get into 
our heart during the week-days ; and if there is no 
break in this secular life, we are apt to become 
secularized in spirit, losing interest in spiritual 
things. The trouble is not that we are in the 
world, but that the world too often gets into us. 
It i§ a proper enough thing for a ship to be in the 
sea ; but when the sea gets into the ship there is an 
end of sailing, and the ship sinks into the waters. 
Christ wants us to be in the world, but he does not 
want the world to get into us. 

On the Lord's day, therefore, we should run 
our bark just as completely as possible out of the 
world's troubled waters into the peaceful bay of 
spiritual rest and enjoyment. We should think on 
spiritual things, and seek to have our heart thor- 
oughly cleansed of worldliness and filled with God. 
One who thus faithfully uses the Lord's day each 
week will be safe amid the world's unspiritual in- 
fluences. A well-spent Sabbath will keep up the 
tone of the life amid the most intense pressure of 
week-day duty. But there is no other antidote to 
worldliness ; and no Christian who desires to be 
faithful dare lose the Sabbaths out of his week. 

(147) 



May 27. 

Learn a parable of the fig tree. — St. Mark xiii. 
28. 

THE parable of the fig-tree teaches that we 
should not shut our eyes to the foreshadow- 
ings of future things. We are taught not to be 
anxious about to-morrow. But there is also a duty 
of looking ahead as well as not looking ahead. The 
good sailor watches the skies, and he would be crim- 
inally foolish were he to pay no heed to the fore- 
tokens of storm. The prudent farmer watches 
the forerunners of winter, and gathers in his fruits, 
houses his cattle, puts wood and coal in his bins, 
when he can do so easily, and is ready before the 
snows and the bitter cold come. So in all our life 
we should watch the "signs of the times," and shape 
our course accordingly. 

Young people, as they feel the impulses of life in 
their souls, and hear the calls of God sounding in 
their ears, should be reminded of the duties and re- 
sponsibilities of life, toward which they are moving, 
and should diligently prepare themselves for filling 
well their place. Each period of life brings its own 
special work ; and there are always forecasts which, 
if heeded, will enable us to prepare ourselves for 
what God is preparing for us. If we are faithful, 
one day will prepare us for the next, and we shall 
never be found by any event, however sudden, 
unprepared to meet it. 



(148) 



May 28. 

The elders . . . came to meet him trembling, and 
said, Comest thou peaceably ? And he said, Peaceably : 
I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord, — i Samuel 
xvi. 4, 5. 

GOD'S messengers do not all wear gentle faces ; 
ofttimes they come in a garb of sternness. 
Yet they come always with a blessing. Sickness 
is one of these dark-visaged prophets. We cannot 
welcome it. Yet if we ask this messenger, " Comest 
thou peaceably ? " the answer is, " Yes, peaceably." 
It brings always messages of peace, of good, if 
only we have grace to receive them. 

The same is true of all hardness. We would 
rather have easy times. Boys and young men who 
are poor think ofttimes that they have scarcely a 
fair chance in life, when they see the sons of rich 
fathers revelling in luxury, with plenty of money. 
Yet really the stern prophet of poverty brings oft- 
times a holier message and a richer, truer bless- 
ing than the smiling-faced, silken-robed messenger 
brings to the youth in the fine mansion. The best 
things in life can be developed only by work and 
discipline. Hence, whatever compels a boy or a 
young man to toil, to deny himself, to depend on 
his own efforts, is a blessing to him. The prophet 
of necessity therefore comes to him peaceably. We 
should never turn from our doors any prophets God 
sends, however stern they may appear. They all 
come with a good message. 

049) 



May 29. 

I will send thee to Jesse . . . f have provided me a 
king among his so?is. — i Samuel xvi. i. 

THE Lord is never at loss for a man. When 
one fails he has another ready. His plans 
and purposes go on in spite of human failure, and 
through all seeming disaster. 

Here was a boy, keeping the sheep in the fields, 
probably not dreaming of greatness, and yet God 
had him marked out to be king. The boys do not 
know what God has in mind for them. They may 
be sure, however, that for every one of them he has 
some plan. It may be a great place or a small one, 
as the world rates greatness or smallness ; but every 
boy should feel that to be just what God made him 
to be is the grandest, noblest, best thing possible 
for him. If God made him to be a carpenter, and 
by his own restless strivings he gets to be a mem- 
ber of Congress or Parliament, or President of the 
United States, his place is not half so high and 
great in the angels' sight as if he had been the car- 
penter he was meant to be. 

The greatest place any one can attain is the place 
God intended him to fill. How can we know what 
God wants us to do and to be ? By doing his will, 
day by day, with quiet fidelity, wherever we find 
ourselves. God's will for each day is God's- plan 
for us for that day. Thus God will lead us continu- 
ally to that which he has for us to do. Failure in 
the lowlier duties will hinder our promotion to the 
higher. 

(iSo) 



May 30. 

Then David ran, and stood over the Philistine, and 
took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, 
and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. — 
i Samuel xvii. 51. 

IF he had not, the old champion would have 
gotten up by and by and walked away ; for 
he was only stunned, not killed, by the stone. 
David made sure work of his victory. 

A great many of our attacks upon sin in our own 
hearts v and in the world only stun and do not kill 
the evil. We walk away, thinking we have done 
a fine thing ; and presently we meet the old giant 
again, stalking abroad as before. He soon recovers 
from our blow, and we have to fight the battle over ; 
and perhaps we fight it again in the same half way, 
and thus on and on to the end of life. Most of us 
have had just such experience as this with our own 
lusts and passions. We overcome them very often, 
and think each time that we are through with them, 
but soon again they are active as ever. 

We need to learn a lesson from David, and finish 
our victories by cutting off the head of every giant 
we strike down. There is no other way of killing 
sins. The life is in the head, and the head must be 
struck off or the enemy will be facing us again in a 
day or two with but a scar on his forehead. The 
only way to get a real victory over vices is to de- 
capitate them. Bruises are not enough. There 
must be thorough work done, in the name of the 
Lord. Half-way measures will not avail. 

(151) 



May 31. 

David . . . said before Jonathan . . . what is my 
sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life ? — 
i Samuel xx. i. 

A FRIEND is a refuge. We all have troubles 
at some time. For many years we may get 
along quietly, and without sore trial ; but the day 
will come to all of us when we shall be in sorrow or 
danger. It may be in such an experience as David's, 
when people shall misjudge us, or become our ene- 
mies without cause, and may seek to harm us. It 
may be sickness that comes upon us, or bereave- 
ment, or loss of some kind. Whatever the trouble 
may be, a true friend will prove a great comfort to 
us in the experience. 

It is a blessed thing to have one friend that we 
are sure of, though all others fail us. We can go to 
him then as David went to Jonathan, telling him all 
our heart's burden. Young people should seek to 
have a friend older than themselves, to whom they 
can fly in trouble or in danger, and in whose faith- 
ful love they can find a sure and safe refuge. There 
is a wonderful strength in the confidence that one 
has such a friend. 

Christ is the best, strongest, truest, most helpful 
friend any one can have. His friendship is a refuge 
indeed. We can flee to him in any danger, and find 
him ready always to comfort, shelter, and bless. 
However many human friends we may have, we all 
need Christ. 

(15*) 



June 1. 

Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, 
— i Samuel xix. 4. 

ONE quality of true friendship is the loyalty 
which speaks out for one's friend in his 
absence, when derogatory things are said of him. 
In few ways is human infirmity shown in worse 
light than in the too common willingness to hear 
evil things even of one's friends. Must we confess 
that there is something in a great deal of human 
nature which delights in learning of faults, mistakes, 
or lapses in others ? At least we must admit that 
there is a strong tendency in this direction. 

But we ought to set the world the example of a 
friendship free from such malign weakness. We 
ought to refuse to believe evil of our friend, or 
even to listen to whispers or insinuations against 
him. Instead of being delighted at hearing in- 
jurious things about him, hints of wrong-doing in 
him, or of flaws in his character, such things should 
grieve us. The law of Christian love requires us 
to defend the character of our friend as we would 
our own character. We are our brother's keeper. 
One writes : — 

Say not, " It matters not to me ; 

My brother's weal is his behoof." 
For in this wondrous human web, 

If your life's warp, his life is woof. 

Woven together are the threads, 
And you and he are in one loom; 

For good or ill, for glad or sad, 

Your lives must share one common doom. 

(153) 



June 2. 

Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy 
soul desireth, I will even do it for thee. — i Samuel 
xx. 4. 

FRIENDSHIP is helpful. We never know what 
our friends do for us. They are advocates 
for us, speaking strong, earnest words for us to 
others. They defend us from false things which 
others may speak of us. Since I began to write 
this paragraph I have had an opportunity to tell 
the truth about one of my friends to another who 
had heard certain charges against him, thus re- 
moving the false impression concerning my friend 
at least from one man's mind. None of us know 
how much of our success we owe to the loyal words 
of our friends. 

Friends help us in our personal life. A pure- 
hearted friend is continually leaving touches of 
beauty on our character. We get from him good 
thoughts, wholesome influences, fresh inspirations, 
continual incitements. Longfellow tells us of a 
song breathed in the air which he found long, 
long afterward in the heart of a friend. So it is 
continually with the sweet songs, good words, and 
holy influences of friendship. 

Friends are helpful also in the ministry of kind- 
ness which they render as two walk on together. 
A true friend is unselfish, thoughtful, ready always 
to render aid in every possible way. Especially 
should friendship show itself in time of trouble. " A 
friend is born for adversity." 

(154) 



June 3- 

The men . . . said . . . Behold the day of which 
the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine 
enemy i?ito thine hand. — i Samuel xxiv. 4. 

SO far as we know, the Lord had not said this at 
all. The men put their own interpretation on 
the opportunity, and called it providential. We are 
all too apt to interpret providences in accordance 
with our own wishes. When we are desiring to be 
led in a certain manner, and there is one way we 
desire very much to take, we are quite sure to find 
providences that seem to favor our preference. 

But opportunity does not always indicate duty. 
When the merchant by mistake gives back a dollar 
too much change, there is an opportunity to make a 
dollar ; but who will say that we ought to accept it ? 
When you find in trouble one who has done you a 
wrong, there is an opportunity to have revenge. 
But does the opportunity justify retaliation ? The 
duty in the former case is honesty, and in the latter 
is the showing of love to an enemy. 

In reading providences we must remember that 
no opportunity to do anything in itself wrong is 
ever to be regarded as a divine leading. It is 
a sin to take revenge, no matter how much our 
enemy deserves punishment, or how good a chance 
we have for punishing him. It is a sin to steal, 
even though an opportunity makes it very easy to 
do it. God leads us by his providence, but never 
into sin. 

(155) 



June 4. 

Wherefore hearkenest thou to men's words ? — 
i Samuel xxiv. 9. 

THERE was some one who in the dark was 
stabbing David's name. It is probable that 
Saul was made to believe that David was his bitter 
foe, and was plotting all manner of evil against him. 
There are people in every community who are quite 
as bad as the man Cush. They go to this one and 
that one, and drop dark insinuations about some 
other person, whose shoe's latchet they are not 
worthy to unloose. They come to one of two 
friends, and let fall some hint only that the other 
is not faithful as a friend, perhaps relating some- 
thing in a perverted way, so as to leave an impres- 
sion of faithlessness. " A whisper separateth chief 
friends." The ruin wrought by the slanderer in this 
world cannot be computed, — characters blackened, 
friendships broken up, jealousies aroused, homes 
destroyed, hearts broken. Slanderous words have 
measureless power for evil. 

"A whisper broke the air — 
A soft, light tone, and low, 
Yet barb'd with shame and woe ! 
Now might it perish only there, 
Nor farther go ! 

Ah, me ! a quick and eager ear 

Caught up the little-meaning sound ! 

Another voice then breathed it clear, 
And so it wandered round 

From ear to lip, from lip to ear, 

Until it reached a gentle heart, — 
And that it broke." 

(156) 



June 5. 

The Lord forbid that I should do this thing, — 
i Samuel xxiv. 6. 

WOULD it not be manly to resent it ? " said 
one who had received an insult. " Yes," 
was the reply, " but it would be godlike to forgive 
it." David did the godlike thing. He had a chance 
to avenge himself. He had his cruel enemy in his 
power. One stroke, and Saul would never have 
troubled him any more. David's life would then 
have been safe. He would have become king at 
once. His men were urging it, and he himself was 
tempted to do it. Yet he overcame the temptation, 
and allowed Saul to pass out of his hand unharmed. 
He listened to the voice of God speaking in his own 
conscience, and restrained the impulse to avenge 
himself. 

The first impulse of a child, when wronged or 
hurt by another, is to seek revenge. Sometimes 
older persons encourage this spirit in children by 
telling them to whip the chair or the rocking-horse 
by which they have chanced to be hurt. In older 
people, too, the desire for revenge is natural, and 
can be repressed only by the higher law of love 
which Christ teaches. The lesson is, that the pun- 
ishment of sin must be left in God's hands. Our 
duty is to bear patiently the wrongs and injuries 
others may inflict upon us, not giving reviling for re- 
viling, to repay unkindness with kindness, to over- 
come evil with good. 

(iS7) 



June 6. 

I will not put forth mine hand against my lord ; for 
he is the Lord's anointed. — i Samuel xxiv. 10. 

DAVID seemed now to have a short, quick way 
to the kingdom, but he would not dare to take 
it. Now the throne was Saul's — he was the Lord's 
anointed. David would not lift a finger to hurry 
God's providence, and to become king before God 
made him king. There often are things that God 
intends to give us, but which we must wait to 
receive in his way. Short-cuts in life's paths are 
always mistakes in the end. Jacob's mother knew 
that Jacob was to have the blessing of the firstborn, 
but if she had waited it would have come to him 
without being stained as it was by her own and 
Jacob's deception. 

Young men are ambitious, and their ambition may 
be right; but too often they are in such feverish haste 
to reach what they wish that they take the short- 
cut of dishonesty to get the sooner to the coveted 
place. It never pays. David could have been on 
the throne the next day, but he would have left 
stains of guilt on the steps as he ascended ; it was 
better far for him to wander on in exile for a time 
longer, and then reach the throne by a clean path. 
It is pleasant to see young men get on in life ; but 
we must always ask how they have gotten on, to 
know whether their elevation is really an honor. 
The only way to true success is God's way. We 
must learn to wait for God. 

(158) 



June 7- 

The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord 
avenge me of thee : but mine hand shall not be upon 
thee. — 1 Samuel xxiv. 12. 

THERE are apt to be wrong views about bearing 
injuries. People ask, " Is there to be no jus- 
tice in cases like David's ? Must we quietly bear 
wrong ? and must the person who does the wrong 
never receive any punishment ? " Our sense of 
right is sometimes so outraged that our soul cries 
out in remonstrance, when we are told that we 
never §hould resent nor resist, but turn the other 
cheek when one cheek has been smitten. The 
Bible teaching is, that it is not our part to punish 
those who wrong us. Our clumsy hands are not 
skilful enough to adjust such delicate matters. 

We are not required to say that a certain person's 
treatment of us was beautiful when it was manifestly 
wrong, but we are to recognize the truth that the 
question of justice is God's matter, not ours ; that 
our part is to be patient and meek, leaving in God's 
hands the whole adjustment of right and wrong. 

Two Scripture passages help to make this plain : 
" Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather 
give place unto wrath ; for it is written, Vengeance 
is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." " Who when 
he was reviled, reviled not again ; when he suffered, 
he threatened not ; but committed himself to him 
that judgeth righteously." We should meekly en- 
dure, and commit all to God. 

• (159) 



June 8. 

Then David the king went in, and sat before the 
Lord. — 2 Samuel vii. 18. 

WE can get before the Lord anywhere by shut- 
ting our eyes to the world and looking up 
into our Father's face. Even in a crowd we can be 
really alone with God. We can commune with him, 
too, in his works. Sweet wayside flowers whisper 
to us tender thoughts of God. The sea tells us of 
his power. The deep blue sky has its suggestions 
of God's peace. The mountains speak of his sta- 
bility and unchangeableness. 

But there are other ways of going in before God. 
When we enter into our closet of prayer and shut 
the door, we are in a very real sense sitting before 
him. We open our Bible, and look into its pages 
with reverent heart and with open ear ; and as we 
read the sacred words, God talks to us. We bow 
in prayer ; and we are lying at Christ's very feet, 
so close to him that we can reach the hem of his 
garment, and feel the touch of his hand upon our 
fevered hearts. How near we get to our Saviour in 
such moments, and how his touch thrills us ! 

" O Saviour Christ, thou too art man; 

Thou hast been troubled, tempted, tried; 
Thy kind but searching glance can scan 
The very wounds that shame would hide. 

Thy touch has still its ancient power; 

No word from thee can fruitless fall. 
Hear, in this solemn evening hour, 

And in thy mercy heal us all." 

(i 60) 



June 9. 

David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel 
that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and 
I have do?ie perversely : but these sheep, what have they 
done! — 2 Samuel xxiv. 17. 

IT is human and very common to try to lay the 
blame on others when we have sinned. Com- 
pare SauPs conduct when Samuel accused him of 
disobedience in sparing the king and the best spoil 
of the Amalekites : he charged the blame on the 
people. How much nobler is David's behavior in 
this case ! The sin had not been his alone, but he 
sees only his own share in it. He sees the people 
suffering under a heavy stroke which he feels he 
ought to be bearing himself, and he cries to God 
to lift his hand from them and let it fall upon 
him. 

The lesson is for all of us. We should never 
try to shift the blame of our sins or mistakes 
upon others, but should take it upon ourselves. 
If penalties or sufferings come through our mis- 
doings we should bear them, and not allow them 
to fall upon innocent persons while we escape. 

Another thing to notice here is, that David's 
penitence deepened under the divine judgment. 
Some people grow rebellious when chastened ; but 
the true way, when we have sinned and when 
punishment comes, is to creep closer to God, and 
to get down lower before him. This is the spirit 
that pleases God and receives blessing from his 
hand. 

(161) 



June 10. 

The Lord . . . which had appeared unto him twice. 
— i Kings xi. 9. 

MATTHEW HENRY says : " God keeps account 
of the gracious visits he makes us, whether 
we do or not, knows how often he has appeared 
to us, and for us, and will remember it against us r 
if we turn from him." Every such gracious visit to 
us adds to our responsibility for obedience and holy 
service. 

A sculptor had a vision of Christ, which he re- 
produced in marble. He believed that he had seen 
the Christ in a dream, and that the form he had chis- 
elled in the marble was the very image of the glori- 
ous Person who had appeared to him. Afterward 
the sculptor was asked to make statues of certain 
heathen deities. But he refused, saying, " A man 
who has made the image of the Christ would commit 
sacrilege if he were to employ his art in the carving 
of pagan goddesses. My art is henceforth a conse- 
crated thing." 

When Solomon had seen the Lord in vision, he 
should have been forever a consecrated man. The 
eyes which had looked upon the Lord should never 
have lusted after earth's pleasures. The hands 
which had fashioned a temple for God should never 
have built chapels and altars for heathen deities. 
Solomon's sins were far greater because of the 
special favors God had granted to him. See- 
ing Christ should set us apart forever for holy 
living. 

(162) 



June 11. 

In thy days I will not do it, for David thy father's 
sake : but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son, — 
i Kings xi. 12. 

IN this word of God we have a double illustration 
of the way our lives cast shadows. A good man 
transmits blessings to his children, and one who 
turns away from God robs his children of blessings 
that ought to be theirs. David's good life kept from 
Solomon the visitation of the full consequences of 
Solomon's sin. 

There are many of us who are enjoying blessings 
which have come through the faithfulness of our 
fathers. But there are many who, like Solomon, 
live so as to rob their children of the honors and 
privileges which they ought to transmit to them. 

Solomon's son did not get the kingdom of all 
Israel. He received but a fragment of it, and it 
was his father's fault that the kingdom was divided. 
The man who by indolence or extravagance wastes 
the fortune God has given him, and transmits pov- 
erty or beggary to his children, is guilty of a like 
sin. Still more guilty is he who by wrong or shame- 
ful living brings dishonor upon his own name, and 
thus bequeaths a heritage of dishonor to his de- 
scendants. It is not merely our own life which is 
affected by our conduct ; we are so tied up in 
bundles that others are made or unmade by our 
making or unmaking of ourselves. We are under 
the most sacred obligations to live worthily, so that 
we hurt not but bless those coming after us. 

(163) 



June 12. 

/ will sing a new song unto thee, O God. — Psalm 
cxliv. 9. 

RUSKIN says. " Many mighty harmonies have 
been discoursed by instruments that had been 
dumb or discordant, but that God knew their stops." 
This is very true, and is most encouraging to those 
who are conscious of the imperfection of their own 
lives. One says, " I never can live a truly sweet or 
beautiful life, for sin has so marred my soul and 
jangled all its chords." True, but God can take 
the instrument with the broken keys and the dis- 
cordant strings and put it in perfect repair — "He 
restoreth my soul : " and under his touch and his 
breath it may give out music that will thrill men's 
hearts, and delight the angels and God himself. 

The worst tempered people may be made gentle 
and loving in speech, act, and disposition, by the 
transforming power of divine grace. The selhsh 
nature may be tuned into sweetest unselfishness 
and charity. So with all jangled life-keys. God 
can put them in tune if we will but leave them 
in his skilful hands. The possibilities of beautiful 
living in even the most marred and imperfect souls 
are almost infinite. None need ever despair who 
will accept the divine grace, and proht by the divine 
teaching and discipline. 

"The hours of pain have yielded good 
Which prosperous days refused ; 
As herbs, though scentless when entire, 
Spread fragrance when they're bruised." 

(164) 



June 13. 

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. 
— Psalm xix. 7. 

THE works of God declare his glory, but not 
his will. We could never learn by studying 
the stars, the flowers, or the rocks, how we ought 
to live, what is right, and what is wrong. We could 
never learn what God himself is, what his attributes 
are, how he feels toward us. We may learn from 
his works that he is great, wise, unchanging, good ; 
but we could not learn that he loves us with a 
tender, personal affection. We could never find 
a gospel of salvation for lost sinners in the works 
of God. 

How thankful we should be for his word, which 
tells us all these things ! It teaches us how to live. 
It is a perfect law ; not perfect only in that it is 
without flaw or mistake, but also in that it is com- 
plete as a revelation, containing all we need to 
know to be saved and to reach the full stature 
of perfect men. We may turn to the law of the 
Lord with every question of duty, and we shall 
always find the right answer. 

I worship thee, sweet will of God, 

And all thy ways adore; 
And every day I live I seem 

To love thee more and more. 

He always wins who sides with God, 

To him no chance is lost; 

God's will is sweetest to him when 

It triumphs at his cost. 

F. W. Faber. 

(i6 S ) 



June 14. 

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the 
heart. — Psalm xix. 8. 

MANY people think that a good life must be 
a sad and gloomy life. They suppose that 
Christians have no joy. They have to deny them- 
selves many pleasures. They have to live strictly 
and soberly. They have to keep the Sabbath and 
follow conscience. Life must be dreary and joy- 
less to Christians. 

So the people talk who boast of being free from 
the restraints of the Bible. But, as a matter of 
fact, the happiest people in this world are those 
who are keeping God's commandments. Who ever 
heard of sin " rejoicing the heart " ? Disobedience 
never made any one happy, but obedience always 
gives peace. 

There are fresh-water springs in the sea that 
continually pour out sweet water beneath all the 
brackish tides. So in the obedient heart, under 
all self-denials, there is a spring of joy ever flowing. 
It is the peace of God which nothing can disturb, a 
holy fountain whose flow nothing can ever check. 

There are in this loud stunning tide 

Of human care and crime, 
With whom the melodies abide 

Of th' everlasting chime — 
Who carry music in their heart, 
Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, 
Plying their daily task with busier feet 
Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat. 

Keble. 

(,66) 



June 15. 

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works 
which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to 
us-ward . . . I am poor a?id needy ; yet the Lord 
t Junket h upon me. — Psalm xl. 5, 17. 

DOES God ever think of us, — the great, glorious, 
eternal God, of us sinful, unworthy beings ? 
We admit that he may think of our earth, for that 
is something large enough to be worthy of divine 
thought. He may give thought, too, to some dis- 
tinguished man, who rises above the masses, as 
Mont Blanc towers above the common hills of 
earth. But here am I, a little child, living in a 
humble street in a great city with its teeming popu- 
lation ; surely he never thinks of me. Of course 
my mother does, because she is my mother, and 
she has only me ; but God has millions more chil- 
dren ; it cannot be that he ever gives any particular 
thought to me, one of the least of these. 

The Bible says he does. Think of a parent's 
thoughts of his child, a father's, a mother's thought. 
So God loves, watches, thinks, plans, cares, for each 
one of his children. 

Then his thoughts are both loving and wise. He 
says, " I know the thoughts that I think toward 
you, thoughts of peace and not of evil." There is 
not a moment when we are not in God's thought. 
He has plans for each life, taking in its smallest 
events as well as its greatest. How secure it should 
make us feel at all times, to know that God is think- 
ing of us, caring for us ! 

(167) 



June 16. 

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, — 
Psalm li. 6. 

NO doubt being is better than doing — that is, if 
it were possible to separate the two. The 
worth of a deed depends largely upon who does it. 
The force of a word depends upon the character 
and standing of the speaker. We must be good 
before we can do good. 

Yet to be good is not a sufficient aim in life — 
there must also be the desire to do good. We are 
never to live for ourselves alone, even in the seek- 
ing of good. We are to desire to be blessed that 
we may be a blessing to others. Everything of 
good we receive from God should make us able to 
do more good. It is a new trust from God which 
we are to hold for him. If our heart be right, then 
our work, little or much, will have a blessing in it 
for the world. 

Thou must be true thyself 

If thou the truth wouldst teach; 

Thy soul must overflow, if thou 
Another's soul would reach; 

It needs the overflow of heart 
To give the lips full speech. 

Think truly, and thy thoughts 

Shall the world's famine feed; 
Speak truly, and each word of thine 

Shall be a fruitful seed ; 
Live truly, and thy life shall be 

A great and noble creed. 

HORATIUS BONAR. 

(168) 



June 17. 

Herewith shall Aaron come into the holy place : with 
a young bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a 
burnt offering. — Leviticus xvi. 3. 

THE high priest must make an offering for him- 
self before he could present the sacrifice for 
the people. The lesson is for all who would inter- 
cede with God for sinners or engage in any way in 
the Lord's work. They must strive that their own 
life may be unspotted and their own sins put away, 
before they go to God for others. 

A frescoer noticed some little blotches on the 
wall he had painted in delicate tints. Taking a wet 
cloth he sought to remove the spots ; but he only 
made them worse, for the cloth in his hand was 
soiled and unclean. So it is when one with spotted 
hands seeks to remove the faults and blemishes of 
other lives. 

A little child reached out his hand to his mother 
to receive a present she was about to give him ; but 
his hands were soiled, and his mother said she could 
not give him what she had for him until they were 
washed clean. We cannot cleanse the lives of 
others, nor minister in their behalf, nor can we re- 
ceive gifts and blessings from God for ourselves or 
others, if our own hands be foul. We must seek 
forgiveness first for ourselves. 

"Lord, I my vows to thee renew: 
Scatter my sins like morning dew; 
Guard my first springs of thought and will, 
And with thyself my spirit fill." 

(169) 



June 18. 

Remember also thy Creator in the days of thy 
youth, or ever the evil days come. — Ecclesiastes 
xii. i. 

IT is easier to begin a Christian life in youth 
than at any other time. It is easy to train 
the heart's affections about the cross before they 
have learned to cling to earth's sordid things. It 
is easy to teach young fingers to play on the piano 
or organ, but it is next to impossible to train the 
stiff fingers of age to do it. So it is easy for the 
young to learn to strike the harps of heaven. It is 
easier to keep the heart pure and tender, than to 
get back its purity and tenderness when once they 
have been lost. 

To-morrow is not ours to hold, 

May never come to bless 
Or blight our lives with weal or ill, 

With gladness or distress; 
No man shall clasp to-morrow's hand 

Nor catch her on the way; 
For when we reach to-morrow's land, 

She'll be, by then, to-day. 

You ask me for the golden time — 

I bid you seize this hour, 
And fill it full of earnest work, 

While yet you have the power. 
To-day the golden time for joy 

Beneath the household eaves; 
To-day the royal time for work, 

For bringing in the sheaves. 

Margaret E. Sangster. 

07°) 



June 19. 

Through many tribulations we must enter into the 
kingdom of God. — Acts xiv. 2 2 . 

THE best things of life come out of wounding. 
Wheat is crushed before it becomes bread. 
Incense must be cast upon the fire before its odors 
are set free. The ground must be broken with the 
sharp plough before it is ready to receive the seed. 
It is the broken heart that pleases God. The 
sweetest joys in life are the fruits of sorrow. Hu- 
man nature seems to need suffering to fit it for 
being a blessing to the world. 

They tell me I must bruise 

The rose's leaf, 
Ere I can keep and use 

Its fragrance brief. 

They tell me I must break 

The skylark's heart, 
Ere her cage song will make 

The silence start. 

They tell me love must bleed, 

And friendship weep, 
Ere in my deepest need 

I touch that deep. 

Must it be always so 

With precious things? 
Must they be bruised and go 

With beaten wings? 

Ah, yes ! By crushing days, 

By caging nights, by scar 
Of thorn and stony ways, 

These blessings are ! 

Samuel W. Duffield. 

(17O 



June 20. 

He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. — 
i John ii. 17. 

GOD'S will is always the best ; it is always divine 
love. A stricken wife, standing beside the 
coffin of her husband, said to a friend : " There 
lies my husband, my only earthly support, my most 
faithful human friend, one who has never once failed 
me ; but I must not forget that there lies also the 
will of God, and that that will is perfect love." By 
faith she saw good and the blessing in what ap- 
peared to her the wreck of all her happiness. But 
truly the good and the blessing are in every dark 
providence which comes into the life of God's child. 
Our Father never means us harm in anything he does 
or permits. His word is, " I know the thoughts that 
I think toward you . . . thoughts of peace." 

I worship thee, sweet Will of God ! 

And all thy ways adore; 
And every day I live, I seem 

To love thee more and more. * 

I have no cares, O blessed Will ! 

For all my cares are thine; 
I live in triumph, Lord ! for thou 

Hast made thy triumphs mine. 

He always wins who sides with God ; 

To him no chance is lost ; 
God's will is sweetest to him when 

It triumphs at his cost. 

Ill that he blesses is our good, 

And unblest good is ill; 
And all is right that seems most wrong, 

If it be his sweet will. 

F. W. Fabbr. 

(172) 



June 21. 

Ye know this, my beloved brethren. But let every 
man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. 
— James i. 19. 

WE miss a great deal by not being good listen- 
ers. The world is full of sweet music, — 
bird songs, the chirping of insects, the sweet mur- 
mur of all nature, the breathing of the wind through 
the trees, the plashing of the waters ; and yet some 
people never hear one melodious sound as they go 
through the fields and forests. God is ever speak- 
ing in our ears, — in conscience, in his word, in the 
gentle voice of his Spirit ; but many of us miss all 
this wonderful divine speech. We ought to train 
ourselves to listen, to hear, to be " swift to hear." 
We learn by hearing. Truth comes to us from 
all sides. There is nothing so mean, so lowly, that 
it may not have some message for us. Words- 
worth says : — 

To me the meanest flower that blows can give 
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. 

Unless we go about ever listening we may miss 
many a rich lesson, turning away unaware many an 
angel who comes from God with a message for us. 

Silence is vocal if we listen well; 
And life and being sing in dulled ears 
From morn to night, from night to morn again, 
With fine articulations; but when God 
Disturbs the soul with terror, or inspires 
With a great joy, the words of doubt and faith 
Sound quick and sharp like drops on forest leaves, 
And we look up to where the pleasant sky 
Kisses the thunder-caps and drinks the song. 

J. G. Holland. 

(*73) 



June 22. 

For you therefore which believe is the preciousness. 
— i Peter ii. 7. 

THE close friends of Christ have found no other 
influence in their life so strong as his precious 
friendship in forming and transforming their lives. 
Continually before them in all its purity and spot- 
lessness, in all its strength and heroism, in all its 
gentleness and beauty, that fair life has shone, a 
pattern in the mount, let down from heaven, brought 
close to them, and winning them by its loveliness. 
The vision has hung before them continually, and 
has lifted them up. No one who has had Christ for 
a friend, in any true, real, vital sense, has failed 
to be blessed by him in the way of growth into 
nobler, richer life. 

Gentle, sympathetic, strong human friendships 
can do much for us. You can tell me how in your 
life, in some time of grief, certain friends came to 
you, and how by their sweet sympathy, their quiet 
peace, their strong comfort, they helped you through 
some valley of shadows. But tell me, rather, what 
Christ did for you in your hours of sorrow. When 
the shadows hung over your home, when your heart 
was bowed in grief, when a life dearer to you than 
your own hung trembling in the balance, when at 
last death came and your heart was broken, what 
was Christ to you then ? Was he not precious to 
you in those dark experiences ? We find the best 
things of Christ's grace and love only in life's expe- 
riences of trial. 

(174) 



June 23. 

Seest thou a man diligent in his business ? he shall 
stand before kings. — Proverbs xxii. 29. 



M 



EN like to rise in the world ; but there are 
different kinds of elevation. One is that 
which money gives. Then, there is elevation which 
comes through social recognition. But true eleva- 
tion is of character and worth. It can be obtained 
only by being diligent. We are not to wait idly for 
promotion, but are to be busy at our lowlier duty till 
the larger is ready for us. Because Moses could not 
be an emancipator at once, he did not spend his 
time in idleness, but was faithful as a shepherd ; and 
when God wanted him, he found him at his work. 
Jesus found Peter, James, and John fishing. The 
way to make sure of being wanted for a greater 
work is to do well your plainer work. Diligence 
makes men ready to go up higher. Do well to-day's 
work, however lowly ; perhaps to-morrow God will 
have something larger for you. Longfellow has 
written : — 

The heights by great men reached and kept 

Were not attained by sudden flight; 
But they, while their companions slept, 

Were toiling upward in the night. 

Standing on what too long we bore, 

With shoulders bent and downcast eyes, 

We may discern — unseen before — 
A path to higher destinies: 

Nor deem the irrevocable past 

As wholly wasted, wholly vain, 
If, rising on its wrecks, at last 

To something nobler we attain. 

(17s) 



June 24. 

Howbeit the Levites hastened it not. — 2 Chroni- 
cles xxiv. 5. 

THE Levites seem to have been indifferent and 
negligent. No reason is given for their want 
of energy, but we see its consequence. The house 
of the Lord remained year after year in its condi- 
tion of decay, a standing dishonor to the name of 
God, and a reproach to those who had been com- 
manded to repair it. 

This is quite an old story ; but we may take for 
ourselves a lesson on the sin of indolence in doing 
God's work. Whatever we are bidden to do we 
should do at once. Promptness is half of obedi- 
ence. Procrastination is a sad sin. It takes out of 
life much of its power for good. It grows into a 
fearful habit if it is encouraged. A boy who is 
slow and loitering will always be behind time, and 
when he becomes a man will accomplish but little. 
Many men, even good men, fail to do all that they 
might do with their life if only they were always 
prompt. They lose time, not by being idle, but by 
loitering, by failing to work intensely. 

" Lose this day loitering, 'twill be the same story 

To-morrow, and the next more dilatory; 

The indecision brings its own delays, 

And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days. 

Are you in earnest ? Seize this very minute. 
. What you can do, or think you can, begin it; 

Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. 

Only engage, and then the mind grows heated; 

Begin it, and the work will be completed." 

(176) 



June 25. 

And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, 
thou and Aaron. — Exodus xxiv. i. 

GOD is always far above us. We can get nearer 
to him only by rising out of sin and earthli- 
ness, into holier, purer life. It was not easy to 
climb up the steep side of Sinai ; it is not easy 
to rise nearer to God. It costs pain and struggle. 
We must make stepping-stones of our dead selves, 
if we would ascend in life and character. We must 
climb upward step by step. 

Jacob saw life visioned before him as a ladder. 
That is the true vision in every case, — not a level 
path, through grassy meadows, but rocky steps up a 
mountain-side. We sing : — 

" Nearer, my God ! to thee, 
Nearer to thee ! 
E'en though it be a cross 
That raiseth me ! " 

A child lay dying, and said plaintively, " Lift me 
higher ! Lift me higher ! " The father took the 
little one in his arms, and lifted her up high as he 
could raise her, as she continued to plead, with fail- 
ing strength, " Lift me higher ! " Soon she was 
gone, lifted out of her earthly father's trembling 
arms, into the bosom of her heavenly Father. On 
the child's grave they cut her name and the words : 
" Lifted higher ! " God wants us all to come up to 
him, to get closer to him, to be lifted higher into 
life's better things. 

077) 



June 26. 

As he thinketh in his heart so is he. — Proverbs 
xxiii. 7. 

OUR thoughts make us. They are the silent 
builders on the temple of character we are 
rearing. They give color and form to the whole 
building. If we think truly, we are rearing up a 
fabric whiter than Parian marble. If our thoughts 
are evil, the fabric that is rising within us is 
blemished. 

The inner and the outer life will always corre- 
spond in the end. A bad heart will work through 
to the surface. If a man's life is righteous, you 
know his thoughts are just ; unjust thoughts will 
never yield righteousness in conduct. 

Thoughts seem mere nothings, flecks of cioud 
flying through the air, flocks of birds flitting- dv, 
and gone. But they are the most real things about 
our life. All things we do are thoughts first. Our 
thoughts fly out like birds, and take their place in 
the world. Then our heart is still their home-nest, 
w r hither they will return at last to dwell. Ella 
Wheeler Wilcox says : — 

I hold it true that thoughts are things, 
Endowed with bodies, breath, and wings, 
And that we send them forth to fill 
The world with good results — or ill. 

Then let your secret thoughts be fair; 
They have a vital part and share 
In shaping worlds and moulding fate — 
God's system is so intricate. 

(178) 



June 27. 

A good man shall obtain favor of the Lord. — 
Proverbs xii. 2. 

IT is certainly worth while to have the Lord's 
favor. If we know that he is smiling upon 
us, we need not much mind what the world thinks. 
Christ's commendation sweetens even the bitterest 
of unjust blame. It was very comforting for Mary 
when the disciples were finding fault, to have Jesus 
say, " She hath wrought a good work." This ap- 
proval healed the hurt the disciples' unfit words 
had caused. 

A good man obtains God's favor. A good man 
is one who loves God and does his will. The 
Scripture does not say a great man, a rich man, 
a strong man, a man of rank. If either of these 
were the qualification required there would be very 
many people who never could obtain the divine 
favor ; for not many of us are either great, rich, 
strong, or noble. The qualification is a "good" 
man. Goodness is within the reach of all of us. 
If only we are good, it matters little what our con- 
dition in other regards may be. 

The other side of this proverb is also instruc- 
tive : " A man of wicked devices will he condemn." 
Again, it is not poverty, nor ignorance, nor com- 
monplace condition, that misses the Lord's favor, 
but a bad heart, one full of intrigue, scheming, and 
evil designs against others. If we would have 
God's favor we must keep a guileless heart. 

(i79) 



June 28. 

He went out to his father, . . . he said, . . . My 
head! my head ! . . . he . . . brought him to his mother, 
he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. — 2 Kings 

iv. iS. 19. 20. 

THE child went out with glee from the home 
door into the harvest-field, where his father 
and the reapers were busy. The sun was hot, 
and it was not long till the little one was crying 
in great pain. The father was too busy to give 
much thought to his sick child. The mother was 
the person to do that, and he sent the boy home 
by a servant. The mother was not too busy to 
attend to her child — mothers never are. With 
maternal tenderness she took her stricken boy on 
her knees, doing all in her power to restore him. 
But when noon came he was dead in her arms. 

What a change a few hours made in that home ! 
We are never sure when we leave the breakfast- 
table and scatter to our several tasks, that our 
merry laughter shall not be turned to grief before 
nightfall. This consciousness should make our home 
intercourse very affectionate, since any hour we 
spend together may be the last. The scene in this 
old Shunem home is one which has been repeated 
in so many households, that, as we linger on it. it 
touches all hearts, and makes this Jewish mother 
kin to thousands of other mothers. Xo matter that 
she lived twenty-seven hundred years ago. To us 
she is a mother with her dead child in her arms, and 
our hearts are touched by her grief down through 
all these centuries. . x 



June 29. 

There is no God like thee . . . who keepest covenant 
. . . with thy servants, that walk before thee with all 
their heart. — i Kings viii. 23. 

PRAYER is not all request and supplication. 
We ought not to speak to God merely and 
only when we want some favor from his hand. 
Much of all true prayer is adoration and praise. A v 
loving child-heart always seeks to express its love 
and confidence. 

" There is no God like thee." The heathen have 
their idols, but our God is not like them. They see 
not, hear not, love not, care not for those who wor- 
ship them. Our God loves and keeps covenant. 
What he promises he performs. His word never 
fails, is never broken. What a strong confidence it 
gives us to be sure that the God in whom we trust 
always keeps his word ! Not a promise of his ever 
has been broken. 

There is something else here which we must not 
overlook. We should never cut Bible sentences in 
two in the middle, for if we do we shall get only 
half truths. God keeps covenant ; but to every 
covenant there are two sides, and we have some- 
thing to do to secure what he has promised. He 
keeps covenant with those who "walk before him 
with all their heart." That is our part, and it 
should be our continual care to be faithful to God 
in all our ways. There is no danger that he will 
fail us ; let us take heed that we do not fail in our 
part. 

(181) 



June 30, 

My mouth shall utter truth . . . All the words of 
my mouth are in righteousness. — Proverbs viii. 7, 8. 

IN this world's counsels there is a great deal 
of guessing and speculating. Friends advise 
us, and intend to speak only what is true ; yet 
by reason of the limitation of their knowledge, 
they may often give wrong counsel. Bad advice, 
though well meant and honestly given, has wrecked 
many a life. But here is counsel that is always 
absolutely true. The words that this divine Wis- 
dom speaks to us are always infallibly right words. 
Here is a guide in whose leading we may put 
implicit confidence. Here is a counsellor whose 
counsel is always safe, because always right and 
true. 

Those who abandon themselves utterly to the 
word of God, follow its counsels, and obey its every 
precept, are sure of blessedness in two worlds. It 
never has been heard that the Bible took any per- 
son on a course which ended in disaster, or in any 
loss or dishonor. It always leads in right paths ; 
and these right paths are safe throughout, and have 
their unvarying destination in the highest good and 
blessedness of those who pass over them. 

" Lord, I had chosen another lot, 
But then I had not chosen well; 
Thy choice and only thine was good; 
No different lot, search heaven or hell, 
Had blessed me, fully understood, 
None other which thou orderest not." 

(182) 



July 1. 

And I will restore to you the years that the locust 
hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and 
the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among 
you. — Joel ii. 25. 

IT is God who says, " I will restore." Only the 
divine hand can do it. Christ is the restorer, 
for he has made atonement for us. There is an 
old legend which says that Jesus was crucified with 
his face turned away from the Holy City and look- 
ing toward the west. One writes, referring to this 
legend : — 

" His face was westward. Knew the soldiers why 
Thus in its stony cleft they turned the beam? 
Perchance they learn that Jewish elders deem 
Unholy glances from the filming eye 
Of man condemned upon a cross to die, 
Might shed pollution Zion's courts around, 
Which God of old so beautiful had found ; 
So, leaning westward hangs he, death anigh. 
Murmurs the heedless city. O'er him breaking, 
Beyond the far hills and the soundless main, 
Rise lands and peoples, deep in night's domain, 
Where deathless love shall conquer ; nations waking 
Down the long ages, prisoned souls set free. 
His face was westward — it was turned to me." 

This is very beautiful. Wherever there is a life 
that is hurt by sin or sorrow in all the land, the face 
of the Christ on the cross beams on it with healing 
in its beams. " By his stripes we are healed." By 
his wounding our wounds are cured. His visage 
was marred, that the marring of sin in our faces 
might be changed to beauty. By his sorrows our 
sorrows are comforted. " I will restore the can- 
kered years," he said. 

(183) 



July 2. 

He smote thrice, and stayed . . . Thou shouldest 
have smitten five or six times, — 2 Kings xiii. 18, 19. 

CHARACTER comes out in little things. It 
seemed a small matter, there in the prophet's 
dying chamber, whether the king shot three arrows 
or six, yet the future successes of his sword de- 
pended on it. Unconsciously, he was undergoing 
a critical test. His lack of energy in shooting 
the arrows betrayed a fatal weakness of character. 
And when the test was over the measure of his 
success in life was unalterably fixed. No doubt 
he would have given large sums for a repetition 
of the testing, now that he knew what depended 
on it; but it was too late. 

Every life is full of just such testings. Destinies 
are forever turning on events too trivial for record. 
Our characters are ever being put to proof in the 
smallest things, and the result settles important 
matters for our future. He who improves his one 
talent receives more. He who is faithful in things 
that are least is intrusted with greater things. On 
the other hand, unfaithfulness in the smallest things 
is forever keeping men out of greater trusts. The 
picking up of a pin in a merchant's office has made 
a great destiny for a boy. There is not a lad who 
may not make or unmake his fortune any day by 
some unconscious act. 

God also is continually putting us to the test to 
see how we do this or that little thing ; and he de- 
termines thereby whether or not he can intrust great 
things to us. / o \ 



July 3. 

He hath put a new song in my mouth. — Psalm 
xl. 3. 

i 

THE ancient statue of Memnon was supposed to 
become musical when the sun rose and the 
beams of morning light fell upon it. When the 
light of the gospel falls upon a darkened heart, it 
begins to sing. No wonder salvation gives joy. 
Only think of what we are saved from — the hor- 
rible pit of sin — and of what we are saved to — 
childship in God's family. Can we but rejoice, if 
we realize our full deliverance ? 

Every Christian should be a singer. If we can- 
not acquire the vocal art, we should at least sing 
and make melody in our heart unto the Lord. 
God wants to put a song into the mouth of every 
child of his. Our song should be one that nothing 
can check. Paul sang in prison with his feet fast 
in the stocks, and his back gashed with stripes. No 
trouble or pain should have power to hush the song 
in a Christian's heart. 

Then, our lives themselves should be songs. We 
cannot all be poets, to write glad hymns of praise 
for others to sing ; or singers, to thrill hearts by the 
sweetness of our voice ; but we can live hymns and 
songs, and that is just as pleasing to God. 

The heart that trusts forever sings. 
And feels as light as it had wings; 

Come good or ill, — 
Whate'er to-day, to-morrow brings, — 

11 is his wilK Isaac Williams. 

(i85) 



July 4. 

The children of Israel . . . kept the feast. . . with 
joy : for the Lord had made the??i joyful. — Ezra vi. 
21, 22. 

THE Lord is always doing things to make us 
joyful, if only we will accept the love he 
sends us in them and rejoice. Christian life ought 
to be one of joy. Christ said he wished his disci- 
ples to have his joy in them, and wished their joy to 
be full. There are a great many reasons why we 
should be joyous Christians. The greatest is that 
we are saved from sin and are in God's family. 
Our privileges, blessings, and hopes are enough to 
fill our hearts with gladness. 

We ought to show our joy in gratitude. Some 
people take all God gives them, accept all he does 
for them, and yet go through life grumbling and 
complaining all the time. Every little trial or care 
counts for more with them than all the multitude of 
God's goodnesses. There is never any sunshine in 
their faces, for they can always find something that 
is not satisfactory, to make a cloud of, and to give 
them excuse for being unhappy. This is a poor, 
miserable way to live. These people are neither 
joyful themselves, nor do they help to make the 
world brighter. We ought to be ashamed to live 
so unworthily and unbeautifully. God wants us to 
be burning and shining lights, and to scatter happi- 
ness and good cheer wherever we go. Instead of 
being croakers, he wants us to be sweet singers. It 
is a sin not to live cheerfully. 
(186) 






July 5. 

Blessed be the Lord . . . there hath not failed one 
word of all his good promise. — i Kings viii. 56. 

IT is nearly three thousand years since Solomon 
uttered this testimony ; but we can say now, 
just as confidently as the king did that day, that in 
all these centuries since not one word of all God's 
good promise has failed any one of his people. No 
one has ever trusted a word of God, and had that 
word fail of fulfilment. 

The most real and sure things in this world are 
the words of God. In every one of them God's 
own almighty hand is gloved ; we clutch them, and 
find ourselves clutched in turn by divinity, out of 
whose clasp we never can fall, nor be torn away. 
We lean upon these words, and find ourselves en- 
circled and upborne by the everlasting arms. We 
pillow our head in weariness or sorrow upon God's 
words of love and comfort, and find ourselves drawn 
close to our Father's heart, held in his warm bosom, 
and soothed by his tenderness, which is gentler than 
a mother's. 

So all through life, in every experience, we may 
trust the promises of God, and commit all our in- 
terests to them, and be assured in our heart that 
not one of them will ever fail us. We may trust 
them, too, in death, and we shall find everything just 
as God has said — the divine presence with us in 
the valley, dying but a going to be at home, absent 
from the body at home with the Lord, in eternal 
blessedness. Not one word of God can fail. 

(187) 



July 6. 

This thing became a sin. — i Kings xii. 30. 

THE king's plan was successful. The people 
did not go back to the temple at Jerusalem, 
but bowed down before the calves. The separation 
was thus made complete. Xo only so, but the false 
leading of the king turned the ten tribes into a path 
that took them farther and farther away from God. 
The name of Jeroboam is held up to execration 
through all the after history as the man who made 
Israel to sin. It was certainly an unenviable im- 
mortality that Jeroboam achieved — a man who 
made others sin. 

Sin grows from small beginnings till it attains 
giant proportions. The man who starts an error 
knows not what moral ruin will come from it. To 
teach one child falsely may be to blight thousands 
of lives. Those who begin new enterprises set in 
motion streams of influence, good or bad, which 
may continue to flow forever. Jeroboam gave 
character to this new kingdom, and all the nineteen 
kings who followed him walked in his steps. 

There is a story of an abbot who coveted a 
piece of ground. The owner consented to lease it 
to the abbot for one crop only. The abbot sowed 
acorns, a crop which took three hundred years to 
ripen. Jeroboam's one sowing mortgaged the new 
kingdom for evil through all its history. Satan 
begs for one crop only, and then sows seeds whose 
harvest will fill all the life to the end. We do not know 
what we are doing when we start a wrong thing. 
(iSS) 



July 7. 

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall 
give him shall never thirst ; but the water that I 
shall give him shall become in him a well of water 
springing up unto eternal life. — St. John iv. 14. 

IF you are a true believer in Christ, your new life 
will become a spring of water in you. Wher- 
ever you go, into the driest desert, into the hottest 
plain, far away from the means of grace and from 
spiritual privileges, into the dark paths of sorrow, 
your life shall not waste nor fail, for its fountain is 
within you. It is not fed from without, nor is it 
dependent upon ordinances and means of grace as 
sources of nourishment along the way. The foun- 
tain of your life, your comfort, your joy, your 
strength, is fed from the mountains of heaven, from 
the fulness of Christ ; hence it can never waste. 
Thus from this well of water in the heart of the 
Christian flows out a perpetual stream of life, with 
blessing for the world. 

If you can be only a little spring, with but water 
enough to fill a pilgrim's cup, do not be discouraged ; 
be the sweet blessing that you can be, and thank 
God for the privilege. Yet Jesus says that " rivers 
of living water " shall flow from this well in him who 
believes — not a mere trickling rill, but large rivers, 
to bless a whole community. We should not be 
satisfied with any small measure of usefulness. We 
should seek to bear much fruit. We should always 
abound in the work of the Lord. We should seek 
to be the largest blessing we can be. 

(189) 



July 8. 

Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of 
God. — St. Mark iv. n. 

IT is wonderful how differently the truth of Christ 
looks from within and from without. It is like 
the great picture windows in a church. One who 
stands outside and looks at them sees none of their 
rich beauty. They seem dull, opaque, and without 
meaning. But let one stand within the building 
and look at the rich windows, and all is trans- 
formed. The lines and figures appear in all their 
rich loveliness. 

It is the same with the truths of God's word. 
They are not attractive to those who are without. 
People sometimes sneer at the faith of Christians, as 
they find them leaning upon an unseen God, and 
clinging to intangible hopes. But when one be- 
comes a Christian all is changed. Where there 
was no loveliness, there now appears the loftiest 
beauty. What was laughed at before is now seen 
to be worthy of highest admiration. Only those 
who have accepted Christ can really understand 
the wonderful things of his love. 

O God within, so close to me 

That every thought is plain, 
Be Judge, be Friend, be Father, still, 

And in thy heaven reign ! 
Thy heaven is mine — my very soul ! 

Thy words are sweet and strong: 
They fill my inward silences 

With music and with song. 

William C. Gannett. 
(190) 



July 9. 

The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all 
those that be bowed down. — Psalm cxlv. 14. 

GOD never gets tired helping us learn our les- 
sons. No matter how often we miss, he is 
ready to give us another chance. When we fail to 
have our lesson learned, he does not give us up, 
putting us out of his school, but tells us to take the 
lesson over again and try to get it better. Only 
think how often we have to try before we do things 
as he wants us to do them, how often we fall in 
trying to walk before we learn to walk. If our 
great Teacher were not patient with us we should 
never become like Christ ; but he never wearies 
of our slowness. He is pleased with our efforts, 
however faulty they are, and has for us always an 
encouraging word. 

" He came to my desk with a quivering lip — 

The lesson was done. 
' Dear teacher, I want a new leaf,' he said: 
1 I have spoiled this one.' 
In place of the leaf so stained and blotted 
I gave him a new one all unspotted, 
And into his sad eyes smiled — 
' Do better, now, my child.' 

" I went to the throne with a quivering soul — 

The old year was done — 
' Dear Father, hast thou a new leaf for me ? 

I have spoiled this one.' 
He took the old leaf, stained and blotted, 
And gave me a new one all unspotted, 
And into my sad heart smiled — 
' Do better now, my child.' " 

(191) 



July 10. 

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 
if ye hare love me to another. — St. John xiii. 35. 

IN all the cordage of the British naval service, 
there is a red thread twisted, which cannot be 
taken out without undoing the whole. So there is 
one unfailing mark of Christian character, wherever 
it is found. Love is always in it. Whatever else 
may be or may not be in the new life of the Chris- 
tian, the scarlet thread of love is always woven into 
the character. God is love, and the believer in 
Christ is like God. To be a Christian is to have 
Christ in the heart ; and Christ is love. Not to 
have love is not to be a Christian. 

The first effect of faith in Christ is the springing 
up of love in the heart of him who believes. This 
love does not lie hidden, but is revealed in the life. 
It shows itself in love for God ; but there is no love 
for God which does not also make the heart warm 
toward man. He that loveth not his brother, whom 
he hath seen, cannot love God, whom he hath not 
seen. And this love is not a mere beautiful senti- 
ment, glowing like a radiant vision in the soul, but 
fading the moment we meet our brothers in actual 
life ; it is a love that becomes the very mainspring 
of all action, the burning heart of all ambition. It 
is a love that makes us pitiful toward all human 
sorrow, gentle toward human infirmity, helpful to- 
ward human need, patient under human unkindness 
and injury, and ready at every call to do and suffer 
and sacrifice. 

( I9 2) 



July 11. 

Now we that are strong- ought to bear the infirmities 
of the weak, and not to please ourselves. — Romans 

XV. I. 

THERE are some people who are anointed to 
be helpers of others. Those who have ques- 
tions or perplexities, those who are seeking light 
or guidance, turn to them instinctively, with confi- 
dence, sure of finding what they seek. 

There is need for such helpers. There are ques- 
tions which books or sermons do not answer — it is 
a friend that is needed, one who can understand 
and sympathize. No other ministry to which men 
are ordained in this world is so sacred as this, 
which comes into lives in their deepest experiences, 
at times when, without wise help, they may be 
wrecked. There is no one of us who may not be 
such a helper. 

If there be some weaker one, 
Give me strength to help him on : 
If a blinder soul there be, 
Let me guide him nearer thee. 
Make my mortal dreams come true 
With the work I fain would do; 
Clothe with life my weak intent, 
Let me be the thing I meant : 
Let me find in thy employ 
Peace, that dearer is than joy; 
Out of self to love be led 
And to heaven acclimated, 
Until all things sweet and good 
Seem my natural habitude. 

J. G. Whittier. 

( x 93) 



July 12. 

We speak that we do know, and bear -witness of that 
we have seen. — St. John iii. 1 1. 

THE things that Christ teaches are certainties. 
Very much human science is only guessing ; 
we cannot be sure of it. Every now and then some 
new discovery is made which sweeps away whole 
volumes of boasted theories. We have to be all 
the time buying new books to keep up with the 
times ; and we are afraid to quote from any but the 
newest editions, lest there has been some recent 
discovery which contradicts the older. 

But Christ's teachings are certainties. He came 
down from heaven, where from all eternity he had 
dwelt, and he knew the things he taught. We may 
accept his words without the slightest doubt, and 
may build our soul's hopes upon them. What he 
said about God, about God's love, about heaven, 
about the judgment, about the future life, about the 
way of salvation, is all certainty. As we go on into 
the future, we shall find everything just as he has 
described it. 

This fact should give us deep and strong con- 
fidence if we are reposing upon Christ's promises 
for salvation and life. It should drive us speedily 
to his cross for refuge if we are still unsheltered, 
for he has told us of condemnation abiding upon 
all who do not believe on him. We may not dis- 
regard a single word that Christ spoke, for all his 
words are all true and eternal. Xot one of them 
can ever fail him who leans upon it. 

(194) 



July 13. 

And Joshua . . . the servant of the Lord, died, — 
Judges ii. 8. 

WE have no elaborate account of the closing 
scenes of this good man's life. Many chap- 
ters are filled with accounts of his life, his work, 
his wise words, and his many activities ; but all we 
know about his death is told in one little phrase. 
If he had lived in these days the scenes of his 
death would have been described with glowing pen. 
We should have known what his last words were, 
how he met the end, whether with or without fear ; 
what dying testimony he left to the power of divine 
grace. But not a word have we about any of these 
things. We are told simply, in the briefest possible 
words, that he died. 

The same is true of all Bible saints. We have 
no death-bed scenes, no descriptions of dying ex- 
periences. The meaning of this is that it matters 
very little how a man dies — living is the important 
thing. Not many people have raptures in the last 
hour. Some, whose lives have been very Christly, 
die without any remarkable manifestation of faith 
or any joyous experiences. Then sometimes those 
who have not lived a Christian life at all seem to 
have the greatest raptures in their last hours. All 
this proves that it is living, not dying, that tests 
one's character. In such a man as Joshua it mat- 
tered not whether he had a triumphant end, or sank 
away in the shadows of old age, and died without a 
word of ecstasy. His life was his testimony. He 

needed no other. . x 

095) 



July 14. 

Joshua . . . died . . . a?id the children of Israel 
did that which was evil . . . and they forsook the 
Lord. — Judges ii. 8-12. 

THAT is too often the way. So long as the 
godly parent or the faithful friend lives, it is 
not hard to do right ; but when the human guide 
is gone the restraining hand is withdrawn, and the 
child or friend drifts away from the holy influence. 
Many a boy begins to drift at his mother's grave. 

There was a man whose besetting sin was strong 
drink. He said to a friend one day : "When I am 
with you I feel strong ; if I could always be with 
you I should never give way to my terrible passion." 
Said his friend : " Whenever you feel the tempta- 
tion getting the mastery over you, come to me and I 
will help you." So, many a time this poor man might 
have been seen hurrying toward his friend's office. 
Once in that helpful presence, he soon grew strong. 

But death came to this friend, and among those 
who wept at his grave none shed bitterer tears than 
he who had so often run to him for the sympathy 
and help that saved him. Soon the temptation 
came again, and there was no one to whom to go. 
In his despair he fell into the old sin, and sank 
down to ruin. If he had known Christ, when his 
friend died he would still have missed him, and 
would have found living harder wanting his help, 
but he would not have sunk down in utter helpless- 
ness. He would then have had the strength of 
Christ to support him in his temptation. 

(196) 



July 15. 

Jesus gave him no answe?\ — St. John xix. 9. 

THE silences of Jesus are as significant as his 
words. He was silent before Pilate. He 
understood the governor's miserable insincerity. 
Pilate had had opportunity enough to do the right 
thing, but he had thrown away his chance. Now 
Jesus would answer no more of his questions. It 
was not worth while. 

One lesson we get from this silence of Jesus is, 
that if we reject his offer of grace over and over, 
the time may come, will come, when he will be 
silent to us. And of all calamities that can possibly 
ever come to any man, no other could be so great 
as that Christ should be silent to his prayers, turn- 
ing his back and answering no more when he calls. 

Another lesson from Christ's example is, that 
there come times in every life when silence is bet- 
ter than speech. Ofttimes to words of reviling or 
insult, silence is the only true answer. To many 
of the assaults made by sceptics on our religion, 
it is better that we remain silent. There is a time 
to speak boldly in the presence of Christ's enemies ; 
but there also are times when we should keep 
silence, attempting no answer. 

" Let me no wrong or idle word 
Unthinking say; 
Set thou a seal upon my lips 
Just for to-day." 

O97) 



July 16. 

This ointment might have been sold . . . and given 
to the poor. And they murmured against her. — St. 
Mark xiv. 5. 

IT is very easy to yield to the temptation to criti- 
cise others, and find fault with their way of 
serving Christ. There are many motives which 
come in to encourage this unchristian habit. We 
are all prone to be envious of others, and hence to 
form unjust opinions of what they do. One of the 
last graces to ripen in a Christian is usually that of 
rejoicing in another's good work. It is very hard, 
too, to learn our Lord's lesson: "Judge not, that 
ye be not judged." It seems natural, too, sad as 
the confession may be, for us to disparage what 
others do and to underestimate it. 

But we should learn the sinfulness of murmuring 
against others. We see how unlovely, how un- 
christlike, it was in these first disciples. Is it any 
less so in us when we allow ourselves to criticise 
our fellow-Christians, finding fault with the way 
they show their love for Christ ? Even if they do 
not do their work as we do ours, have we a right 
to judge them and blame them, and speak unkind 
things about what they have done ? Between them 
and their Master rests the matter, and it is not our 
duty to make ourselves judges and condemners of 
their acts. They are responsible — not we — for 
what they do. There are few lessons more needed 
than this, for there are few faults more common 
than that which we see here in these first disciples. 

(198) 



July 17. 

All chastening seemeth for the present to be not joy- 
ous, but grievous : yet afterward it yieldeth peaceable 
fruit unto them that have bee7i exercised thereby, even 
the fruit of righteousness. — Hebrews xii. n. 

WE have all known Christian sufferers who 
have grown into rare, sweet beauty as they 
have suffered. They have lost their earthliness and 
have learned heavenliness. Pride has given way 
to humility. The harsh music has grown soft and 
gentle. The rough marble has taken the shape of 
graceful beauty. There are elements of loveliness 
in the depths of every life which pain alone can 
bring out. God often takes his children into a 
darkened room and draws the curtains while he 
brings out more clearly in theni the features of his 
own image, which before had been only dim and 
shadowy outlines. 

Yet afflictions do not always make people better. 
Not all suffering yields the fruit of righteousness. 
We have all seen people suffering who became only 
more impatient, selfish, and cold. Their trouble 
hurt them. 

As I watch the effects of trial upon men and 
women, I find that it is only in the fewest cases 
that the life is made more radiant by pain. There 
are dangerous shoals skirting all the deeps of afflic- 
tion, and many frail barks are wrecked in the dark- 
ness. In no experience of life do most persons 
need wise friendship and firm, loving guidance 
more than in their times of trouble. 

099) 



July 18 

As the Lord, the God of Israel liveth, before whom I 
stand. — i Kings xvii. i. 



A\ 



E all stand before God. His eye is ever upon 
us. His face ever beams its light upon us. 
We all believe this, and say it often with our lips ; 
yet many of us do not really get the truth into our 
heart. If we did. it would make better people of us. 
We should not slight our work as now we do so 
often, if we were truly conscious that God is look- 
ing on us as we work. 

This consciousness would also give us hope and 
courage in darkness or danger. Some people think 
of " Thou God seest me ,? as a reason for fear and 
terror. But it was not so to Hagar when she called 
God by this name. It meant to her divine love 
and care. God had not forgotten her nor forsaken 
her. She was cast out of her earthly home, but the 
Lord saw her and took her up. If we are God's 
children, the thought of our Father should always 
bring us comfort, assurance, a wonderful sense of 
security. So it is a great thing to stand before 
God. to be conscious of his eye upon us. and to 
know him so well as not to be afraid of him. 

I say to thee, do thou repeat 

To the first man thou mayest meet, 

In lane, highway, or open street, — 

That he and we and all men move 

Under a canopy of love, 

As broad as the blue sky above. 

R. C. Trench. 

(200) 



July 19. 

Thou shalt drink of the brook ; and I have com- 
manded the ravens to feed thee there. — i Kings 
xvii. 4. 

GOD is never at a loss for a way of providing for 
his children. The brooks of water, the birds 
of the air, the beasts of the field, the winds of 
heaven, the waves of the sea — all creatures belong 
to him, and are under his direct control. He has 
no trouble, therefore, in getting food to his children 
wherever they may be. Perhaps none of us ever 
had ravens carry us our daily bread, but God sends 
it to us in other ways ; and it is just as really he 
who sends it, whether railroad trains carry it across 
a continent, or ships bring it half around the globe, 
or birds bear it to our windows, or it come through 
hands of loving friends. 

We know too much for our good these modern 
days, — many of us. We are so wise about " laws 
of nature " that we can account for everything on 
scientific grounds, and have no need for God's in- 
terference anywhere ; consequently we forget, some 
of us, that God has anything to do with this world. 
What poor fools we are ! What are nature's laws 
but God's established ways of doing things ? If I 
sow wheat-seeds on a little patch of soil, and in a 
few months reap a harvest, and then, taking the 
wheat to the mill, get fine flour and have good 
bread on my table, had God nothing to do with 
sending it to me? Did not he provide it as really 
as when he sent the ravens to Elijah day by day, 
with food for him ? / \ 



July 20. 

It came to pass after a while, that the brook dried 
up. — i Kings xvii. 7. 

THAT is the way this world's brooks always do. 
For a time they flow full ; then they begin to 
waste, and at last dry up altogether. This is true 
of all earthly joys. There is a comfort, however, 
in what comes after the statement made in these 
words. When the brook dried up, God had another 
place ready for his servant. " Arise, get thee to 
Zarephath." There he found other help ready. 

It must have been a sore test of Elijah's faith to 
watch the stream growing less and less every day. 
" What shall I do when the brook is dry ? " he 
would wonder. But we need not suppose that he 
ever worried about it. He knew that God was pro- 
viding for him, and would have something else 
ready when this supply ceased. One morning there 
was no water running over the stones, and the 
prophet had to eat a dry breakfast — only bread 
and meat ; but still, I think he did not grow anx- 
ious. Then after breakfast the Lord came and told 
him to move. 

The lesson is, that we are never to doubt God, 
no matter how low the supply gets. Though we 
have come down to the last mouthful of bread and 
the last cupful of water, and still see no new pro- 
vision beyond, we are to take the last morsel with 
thankfulness, believing that God will have- some- 
thing else ready in time. It will be soon enough if 
it is ready when we have eaten the last crust. 
(202) 



July 21. 

And she went and did according to the saying of 
Elijah. — i Kings xvii. 15. 

THAT is, she took the handful of flour she had 
and the little oil, and made a cake for her 
hungry guest first, and then for herself and her 
household. Then she found that there was as 
much meal and oil left as she had before. 

There are several things to commend in this 
woman. One is her faith. She believed what was 
told her, and acted on it. It is when we do God's 
commandments that he blesses us. His promises 
are conditional, depending upon the fulfilment of 
our part. Had this woman not believed and obeyed, 
the wonderful two or three years' miracle in her 
house would not have been wrought. The woman's 
unselfish generosity must also be commended. She 
had enough only for a meal for herself and son, 
but she fed the stranger first. Had she prepared 
a meal for herself and son, and left the hungry 
prophet unfed, there would have been no miracle 
of increase. We must be ready to share our little 
with others who need, if we would have the bless- 
ing on ourselves. Mrs. Charles writes : — 

Is thy cruse of comfort failing? 

Rise and share it with another, 
And through all the years of famine 

It shall serve thee and thy brother. 
Love divine will fill thy storehouse, 

Or thy handful still renew ; 
Scanty fare for one will often 

Make a royal feast for two. 

( 2 °3) 



July 22. 

S/?c\ and Ju\ and fur /iousc\ did eat many days. — 
i Kings xvii. 15. 

HAD not the prophet come to the widow's door 
she and her household would probably have 
perished in the famine. Or had the woman re- 
fused the prophet's request, saying. " I cannot spare 
anything for a stranger ; charity begins at home. 
and I must look first after my own," she and hers 
would have starved before the rain fell. The meal 
wasted not because she shared it with another. 

The lesson is plain. There is a withholding that 
tendeth to poverty; there is a giving that enricheth. 
The way to make sure of spiritual blessing is. to 
seek to be a blessing. If your love is growing cold, 
help some one and it will become warm again. We 
cannot afford to shut our doors in the face of those 
God sends to us for sympathy and for the minis- 
tries of love. Such serving brings to us blessings 
which we must not miss. 

Is thy cruse of comfort failing 
Rise and share it with another. 

Elizabeth Charles. 

Remain not folded in thy pleasant joys 
Within the narrow circle of thy walls, 
Content if thine are blessed. Cold is thy fire, 
If on thy hearth-stone only; and thy bread 
Bitter, which feeds alone thy selfish blood: 
Thy house a prison, if it hold thy world. 
Thy heaven a fiction. 

F. R. Abbe. 

(.204) 






July 23. 

He . . . came and sat down under a juniper tree : 
and he requested for himself that he might die. — 
i Kings xix. 4. 

HE was sorely discouraged. It seemed to him 
that all he had done had come to nothing. 
There are few things we need more to guard against 
than discouragement. When once we come under 
its influence, it makes us weak, robbing us of our 
hope and making cowards of us. Many a life is 
discrowned and drawn down to failure through 
discouragement. 

It is surely a sad picture — this greatest of the 
old prophets lying there under the little bush, in 
the wilderness, longing to die. If he had died then 
and there, what an inglorious ending it would have 
made of his life ! As it was, however, he lived to 
do further glorious work and to see great results 
from his contest with idolatry. God was kinder to 
him than he knew. 

It is wrong to wish ourselves dead. Life is 
God's gift to us, a sacred trust for which we shall 
have to give account. While God keeps us living 
he has something for us to do. Our prayer should 
be for grace to do our duty bravely and well unto 
the end. From Elijah's after-experience we learn 
that we should never be cast down by any dis- 
couraging experiences. The things we think have 
failed are often only slowly ripening into rich suc- 
cess. We have only to be faithful to God and to 
duty, and we may always rejoice. What seems 
failure is often best success. 
( 2 °S) 



July 24. 

An angel touched him, and said unto kirn, Arise a?id 
eat . . . He . . . went in the strength of that meat 
forty days and forty nights. — i Kings xix. 5, 8. 

BEHOLD the loving gentleness of God. He fol- 
lowed his discouraged servant in his flight, 
kept watch over him all the way, and did not cast 
him off. There is great comfort in this for us all. 
God is very patient with us in our weakness and 
fault. He does not break bruised reeds. 

Then it must be noticed that when God would 
restore his servant's soul he began with his body. 
He gave him sleep and then food, till his exhausted 
nature was refreshed. Much spiritual depression is 
caused by the bodily condition. Ofttimes the best 
cure for despondency is sleep and rest, until the 
body is restored to healthy conditions. 

This incident is typical. God is continually pre- 
paring a table in the wilderness where he feeds his 
weary ones. In their sorrows, he provides for them 
meat which the world knows not of : they rise up 
and go on their journey with joy, sustained by the 
secret strength which divine grace supplies. Many 
persons whose lot in life is hard go through the 
days with cheerful, songful spirit, because every 
morning in the closet God gives them food which 
makes them strong. Those whom God thus blesses 

" Carry music in their heart. 

Through dusky lane and wrangling mart; 
Plying their daily task with busier feet, 
Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat/' 
(206) 



July 25. 

/, even I only, am left. — i Kings xix. 10. 

THERE is something very pathetic in this word. 
Elijah really thought he was alone. He did 
not know of one other man in all the land who was 
loyal to God. This made it all the harder for him. 
Companionship strengthens us. It is comparatively 
easy in battle for one to march and fight in the 
ranks, with others all around him ; but to move out 
alone, old soldiers say, is a sore test of courage. 
It is easy to be good, faithful, and loyal in duty, 
diligent in Christian service, when one has com- 
panionship. But it tests one's life to have to stand 
alone, the only Christian in the family, the work- 
shop, the store, the school. But many have to 
stand just in this way. They are really the only 
one who is in their place to stand for God. If 
they fail, God's work there will suffer greatly. 

But we see also the value of a single life. For 
years Elijah was the only one who confessed the 
Lord and was faithful to him. Yet though utterly 
alone, and not knowing of any others who even 
secretly were true, he yet stood firm, and bravely 
maintained the honor of Jehovah in the face of a 
whole nation. As we read the story through to the 
end we see the outcome of his faithfulness. He 
alone wrought a great reformation. We sometimes 
find ourselves alone — the only one to witness for 
Christ in the place where we stand. If we simply 
stand and falter not, we shall by and by see the 
triumph of that for which we stand. 
(207) 



July 26. 

Yet will I leave i?ie seve7i thousand i?i Israel . . . 
which have not bowed unto Baal. — i Kings xix. 18. 

THINGS were not so bad as Elijah had thought. 
He supposed he was the only one ; but there 
were seven thousand more, scattered here and 
there through the land, who were still loyal to God. 
God's cause in this world is never hopeless. He 
has others where we think we are the only one. 

There is an experience of Luther's which is sug- 
gestive : "At one time," he says, "I was sorely 
vexed and tried by my own sinfulness, by the 
wickedness of the world, and by the dangers that 
beset the church. One morning I saw my wife 
dressed in mourning. Surprised, I asked her who 
had died. ' Do you not know ? ' she replied ; ' God 
is dead.' ' How can you talk such nonsense ? ' I 
said. ' How can God die ? ' 'Is that really true ? ' 
she asked. ' Of course,' I said, not perceiving her 
aim. ' How can you doubt it ? ' ' Yet,' she said, 
' though you do not doubt that, yet you are so help- 
less and discouraged.' " 

Workmen of God, oh, lose not heart, 

But learn what God is like ! 
And, in the darkest battle-field, 

Thou shalt know where to strike. 

Oh, blest is he to whom is given 

The instinct that can tell 
That God is on the field, when He 
Is most invisible. 

F. W. Faber. 
(208) 



July 27. 

It came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah 
by a whirlwind into heaven. — 2 Kings ii. 1. 

WHEN a good man leaves the world he does 
not cease to live. The Lord took Elijah to 
live in another country. We are able actually to 
verify this statement. We have but to turn over 
to the Gospels to see him again, nearly nine hun- 
dred years later, alive, and active still in God's 
work. 

It is just as true of the Christians who die in our 
homes as it was of this old prophet, that the Lord 
takes them up into heaven, and that they live on in 
blessedness forever. 

One cold autumn day I saw an empty bird's-nest 
on a tree. It looked desolate and forsaken. But 
I knew the birds that once were there were living 
yet, living now in the warm South, beyond the 
reach of winter's storms, and singing there their 
sweet songs. There is an empty love nest in many 
a home, in many a heart, but we know that the 
dear one who is gone is living with God in heaven. 
There is comfort in this. 

There is a suggestion in the way God took Elijah 
from earth. It was " by a whirlwind." A whirl- 
wind suggests terror. But this wild storm was 
God's chariot, and it took the prophet up into 
heaven. Death always seems terrible to nature. 
Sometimes it comes in form of special terror. But 
however it may come, it takes God's child home 
to glory. 

(209) 



July 28. 

It came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, 
that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire . . . 
which parted them both asunder, — 2 Kings ii. 11. 

SO the most loving friends must sometimes be 
parted. We walk on together, talking of a 
thousand things, not dreaming of separation, when 
suddenly, as we turn some sharp corner in the way, 
the chariot is waiting, and one is taken and the 
other left. We ought not to forget the certainty of 
separation in every friendship we form. Some day 
one of the two will be taken, and the other must be 
left to weep by a grave and to walk on lonely and 
sorrowing after that. 

Another thought suggested here is, that heaven 
is not far away. One of the chariots from the 
King's country came down that day to carry Elijah 
home. Another came down to the door of your 
house when the baby died, or when father or 
mother or brother or sister died. We shall not 
leave this world as Elijah did — missing death — 
we shall have to pass through the valley ; but we 
shall have the heavenly chariot to bear away our 
freed spirit just as truly as he did. 

To die? it is to rise 

To fairer, brighter skies, 

Where death no more shall his dread harvests reap; 

To soar on angel wings 

Where life immortal springs, 

For so he giveth his beloved sleep. 

I. N. Tarbox. 

(2IO) 



July 29. 

Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portio?i of thy 
spirit be upon me. — 2 Kings ii. 9. 

ELISHA'S choice shows where his heart was. 
He did not ask for position, for wealth, for 
ease, for honor, but for more life, more spiritual 
power. He had watched his master in his great 
work, his zeal for God, his heroism, his intense 
earnestness, and he wanted to have a large measure 
of the same spirit. He wanted most of all to be a 
better man, a more useful man, more active and 
mighty in the Lord's work. Here is a good lesson 
for us. We ought to seek above all other things 
the qualities and graces and beauties which make 
a noble character. 

There is something else. Elisha greatly admired 
his master, Elijah, and his chief desire was to be 
like him. This is commendable. Christ, our Mas- 
ter, is the one great and perfect example, and all 
of us should imitate him. Any other model is too 
low. Yet he gives us in his true followers pictures 
of at least some fragments of his own beauty, and 
it is right for us to imitate these. St. Paul said : 
" Be ye imitators of me." Every parent should live 
so that his child, imitating him, shall be ever follow- 
ing Christ and growing more like him. Tennyson 
said : "lama part of all that I have met." It is 
right when we see anything beautiful in another 
to desire to have the same beauty in ourselves. 
Whether we will or not, we grow, even unconsciously, 
like those whom we admire and love. 

(211) 



July 30. 

He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from 
him. — 2 Kings ii. 13. 

WE are continually seeing useful lives removed 
from earth. The loss seems irreparable. 
But there are no accidents in God's providence. 
Every one's life is a plan of God, and no faithful 
servant is taken away until his part in the great 
plan is finished. There is abundance of work re- 
maining, but it is the work of others, not of him 
who is gone. His mantle falls at some one's feet 
— yours, perhaps. 

A good father dies, and there is grief in the home. 
How he will be missed ! Yes ; but an elder son 
stands by the coffin, strong and gifted, blessed with 
the blessing of the father's life and teaching. At 
his feet the mantle falls from the father's shoulders. 
He must take it up, and with it lift the burdens and 
responsibilities of manhood. He must become now 
his mother's protector, and the shelter and defender 
of his younger brothers and sisters. 

A mother dies, and when a gentle mother goes 
out of a home the loss indeed seems irreparable. 
But if there is an elder daughter in the sorrowing 
group at the grave, at her feet the mantle falls. So 
it is in all the breaches which death makes in 
Christian homes and communities, — in every case 
the mantle falls at some one's feet. God makes 
provision that his work shall not suffer unless his 
servants fail in their duty. We must be ready al- 
ways to take up what is ours. 

(212) 



July 31. 

But his delight is i?i the law of the Lord ; and in 
his law doth he meditate day and night, — Psalm i. 2. 

A perfumer bought a common earthen jar and 
filled it with attar of roses. Soon every par- 
ticle of the substance of the jar was filled with the 
rich perfume ; and long afterward, and even when 
broken, the fragments retained the fragrance. So 
it is that a human life becomes filled, saturated, 
with the word of God, when one loves it and medi- 
tates upon it continually. The thoughts, feelings, 
affections, dispositions, and the whole character be- 
come colored with the spirit of the word. 

Such a filling of the heart and memory with the 
pure words of God is the best way to prepare for 
any future of darkness into which the life may pass. 
It is like hanging up a hundred lamps while the 
light of day yet shines, to be ready to pour down 
their soft beams the moment daylight fades. 

And when thy darkened eyes no more behold 

The glory of the light, 
Then shall a purer radiance thee enfold 

To bless thy failing sight. 
And when to thy dulled ear earth's voices wane, 

And singing birds grow dumb, 
Then angel harmonies with sweet refrain 

Shall to thy spirit come. 
For the veiled past shall show a smiling face, 

And blessing shall not cease; 
To all who work the works of truth and grace 

Life's memories shall bring peace ! 

Annie E. Lyddon. 

(213) 



August 1. 

The Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel . . . The 
Lord hath seut me to Jericho . . . The Lord hath sent 
me to Jordan. — 2 Kings ii. 2, 4, 6. 

GOD leads us on step by step, each step a new 
revelation. He led Elijah on with new calls 
to new errands, from Gilgal to Bethel, from Bethel 
to Jericho, from Jericho to Jordan, and then over 
the river and up among the hills, until at last, as he 
went on, the chariot came down and lifted him 
away. In this same beautiful way does God lead 
each one of his children through life. We know 
not what any day may bring forth. But he knows ; 
and he calls us forward, to this duty and experience 
to-day, to others to-morrow, and so on and on, and 
on and on, until we come to the last step, and that 
will be into glory. 

Elijah's prompt obedience teaches us our side of 
the lesson. He went swiftly from task to task. 
He would finish his work before the end came. It 
was to visit the schools of the prophets that he 
went to Bethel and to Jericho. He wanted to give 
his last counsels to the young students whom he 
had been training and on whom the future religious 
work among the people would depend. 

The nearing of the end of life should intensify 
our earnestness. A good woman was told that she 
could not live more than six weeks. 6i Then I must 
arise, and hasten to finish my work.' 7 Leaving her 
bed, she went out and hurried from place to place, 
laboring intensely until the very end came. 

(214) 



August 2. 

They took their bones and buried them under the 
tamarisk tree in Jabesh. — i Samuel xxxi. 13. 

IT has been said that every one lives for a funeral ; 
that the burial one has tells the story of one's 
life. One man amasses great wealth, and when his 
body lies in state the rich come and look at him and 
pass on with their tearless eyes. Another devotes 
his life to doing good. His hands scatter blessings. 
The needy are cared for, the hungry are fed, the 
sick are visited, the fallen are lifted up. When 
he lies in his coffin, the poor come, the widow and 
the orphan, those whom his hands have relieved 
and helped, and with grateful hearts and tearful 
eyes take their farewell. 

It is a beautiful sight — this rescuing of the body 
of King Saul from dishonor on the field where he 
had fallen, and it is especially so when we learn 
that it was an act of kindness which he had done 
many years before which secured for his dead body 
the gentle thought and care it received that day. 
Had Saul's life been filled to its close with such 
deeds of true valor as marked its beginning he 
would have had the gratitude of a whole nation 
when he came to die. We should try to live so 
that we shall be remembered with gratitude. Then 
we should never fail to show gratitude to any one 
who has conferred a favor upon us. Let us be sure, 
too, that we live so as to obtain honor from God 
when we come to the end of life. If we miss that, 
earth's honor will be an awful mockery. 

(2*5) 



August 3. 

Whe?i I kept silence, my bones waxed old through 
my roaring all the day long. — Psalm xxxii. 3. 

SOMETIMES we would better be silent to God. 
When sore trials are upon us we should not say 
a word in resistance. But there is a silence to God 
which does not bring blessing. Sins unconfessed 
produce bitterness. David's words tell a sad story 
of the suffering of the days when he kept silent 
about his guilt. 

" When I kept silence, my bones waxed old 
Through my roaring all the day long. 
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me." 

He could not put away the memory of his sin. 
It stayed in his mind, saddened every joy and em- 
bittered every sweet thing in his life. His very 
body suffered, and his heart cried out continually 
in anguish. 

Sins unconfessed are a burden too great for mor- 
tal to bear. We should never keep silence for a 
moment about a sin which we have committed. 
The only true thing to do is to confess it instantly, 
and put it out of our life utterly and forever. Sin 
is a demon from the dark abodes, and must be ex- 
pelled or it will take up its home in the heart and 
destroy the life. Sin is poison of eternal death, 
and if not cast out it will spread its death through 
the soul. The only safety is, by confession and re- 
pentance to thrust out remorselessly every sin that 
has betrayed us. 

(2 1 6) 



August 4. 

In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, 
the ninth day of the month , a breach was made in the 
city. — Jeremiah xxxix. 2. 

WHEN even the smallest breach is made in a 
wall, it is the beginning of the end. The 
breach is easily increased, until, where at first only 
one or two men could enter, a whole army pours 
through. 

Each of us lives within walls. There is the wall 
of innocence, which God sets around every human 
soul. So long as it remains unbroken we are safe ; 
but when once a breach is made, enemies pour in. 
It is then easy to break down the whole wall, leaving 
the life exposed to every temptation. Every wild 
beast enters the garden at pleasure. 

Conscience is another of the walls which God 
builds around each soul. So long as it is kept in- 
violable it is an impregnable protection. But this, 
too, may be broken ; and when one small breach has 
been made in it, it is easy to make it larger. It is 
not so hard to violate conscience the second as the 
first time. It is easier still the third and the fourth 
time. By and by the whole wall is broken down. 
When this time comes the citadel of the heart is 
utterly in the enemy's hands. Everything beautiful 
is destroyed. The temple is in ruins, the altar is 
torn away, the fires are dead, the lamps are out, and 
there is only darkness in the place once sacred 
and bright with God's presence. It is well that we 
look after the walls of our life. 

(217) 



August 5. 

In the fourth watch of the night he came wito them. 
— St. Matthew xiv. 25. 

HE did not come immediately; indeed, it was 
almost morning when he came, and the dis- 
ciples had been all night struggling in the storm. 
Yet he had not been indifferent to them meanwhile. 
From the mountain top where he was praying he 
kept his eye upon them. " He saw them distressed 
in rowing." All that dark night he kept a watch 
upon that little boat in the midst of the waves that 
bore his disciples. 

There is something very suggestive in the picture. 
This boat in the storm represents Christ's friends 
in this world in the storms of life. Sometimes we 
think we are forgotten, but from his place in glory 
Christ's eye is always on us. He sees us toiling, 
battling with the waves, beaten, and distressed. He 
has full sympathy with us in all our struggles. It 
ought to be a great strength and comfort to us in 
trial to know this. Jesus intercedes for us in our 
distresses. It may not be best always to deliver 
us immediately, but continually ascends his prayer, 
that our faith may not fail in the struggle. This 
also should encourage us. Then he always comes 
in time. He may delay long, but it is never too 
long. If we call upon him in trouble we may be 
sure that he hears and sees us, and knows just how 
hard it is for us to endure ; that he prays for us 
that we may not fail, and that he will come at the 
right time for our deliverance. 

(218) 



August 6. 

His disciples came and besought him, saying, Send 
her away ; for she crieth after us. — St. Matthew 
xv. 23. 

JESUS is not so tender-hearted that he cannot see 
us suffer when suffering is the best experience 
for us. He does not immediately lift burdens from 
our shoulders when it is needful for our growth that 
we bear the burdens longer. There is a mawkish 
sentimentality about too many people's ideas of 
Christ, as if he were too gentle to endure the sight 
of suffering. It is possible to be too tender toward 
pain. It is possible for parents to be too emotion- 
ally kind to their children. Uncontrolled pity is 
positive weakness, and it is ofttimes very injurious. 

Christ's tenderness is never too tender to be wise 
as well as tender. He never makes the mistake of 
yielding to any one's entreaties when denial would 
be better than acquiescence. He never lets us 
have what we want because he cannot bear to say 
" no " to our tearful cries. He is not so tender- 
hearted as to allow his own disciples to go unchas- 
tened when only by chastisement can he promote 
their growth. 

But one thing we must not forget, — it is love that 
prompts his severity. He was silent here, that, in 
the end, he might give the full, rich blessing he 
wanted to give this woman, but which she could 
not receive at the first. He denies us, and is silent 
to us when we cry, that he may draw out our faith, 
and give us his best blessings by and by. 
(219) 



August 7. 

Not with eyeservice, as mcn-pleasers, but in singleness 
of heart ', fearing the Lord. — Colossians iii. 22. 

ST. PAUL speaks of " eyeservice " as a kind of 
service that is not the truest. There always 
are those who work well when they are under the 
eye of a master, but who fall off in diligence and 
faithfulness when the watching eye is wanting. 
This is very imperfect serving. The person who 
takes advantage of an employer and does his work 
slowly, or loiters at his tasks, or shortens the time 
he is expected to be at his post, or in any way is 
less faithful or less diligent and careful than if his 
employer were beside him, is yielding to a tempta- 
tion which will hurt his own life immeasurably. 
The wrong he does to another by skimping his 
work is sin enough ; but the injury done to himself 
is far more serious. The former is only in money ; 
the latter is in character. The man who does a 
dishonest thing, or is in any way unfaithful in duty, 
has lowered the tone of his own life, and blighted 
irreparably some portion of the possibilities of his 
being. 

Perish policy and cunning ! 

Perish all that fears the light ! 
Whether losing, whether winning, 

" Trust in God, and do the right." 

Simple rule, and safest guiding, 
Inward peace, and inward might, 

Star upon our path abiding, 

" Trust in God, and do the right.'* 

Norman MacLeod. 

(220) 



August 8. 

Hezekiah received the letter . . . and Hezekiah went 
up unto the house of the Lord y and spread it before the 
Lord. — Isaiah xxxvii. 14. 

THAT was Hezekiah's way of laying his troubles 
in the Lord's hands. He could not do any- 
thing, and so he gave the matter to God. We all 
have our cares. Sometimes it is a business per- 
plexity, sometimes it is a temptation ; or it may be 
a combination of circumstances that seems about to 
crush us. 

What is our duty ? what is our privilege ? We 
may take the matter directly to God. We may cast 
the burden upon him. That is what St. Paul tells 
us to do with all our anxieties ; and he says the 
peace of God shall then guard our heart and thoughts 
in Christ Jesus. 

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin? 
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within. 

Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed? 
To do the will of Jesus — this is rest. 

Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging 'round? 
On Jesus' bosom naught but calm is found. 

Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away? 
In Jesus' keeping we are safe and they. 

Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours? 
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers. 

It is enough; earth's struggles soon shall cease, 
And Jesus calls us to heaven's perfect peace. 

Edward H. Bickersteth. 

(221) 



August 9. 

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death, — 
2 Kings xx. i. 

PALACE walls cannot shut out sickness. Kings 
and queens, as well as peasants, must yield to 
the touch of disease and pain. People who live in 
a plain, humble way very often feel that somehow 
this world's troubles have easier access to them 
than to the rich, who live in a grand way. Some- 
times they envy those who dwell in the great 
houses, and fancy that brown-stone walls exclude 
most of the ills of life. 

But they make a mistake : no splendid doors 
can shut out trouble. The healthiest people in the 
world are well-to-do working people, who earn their 
bread by honest toil — the healthiest and the hap- 
piest too. Wealth and high station bring more 
cares than they shut out. The tall peaks are more 
conspicuous than the little hills, but they are swept 
by more storms. Contentment, with plainness and 
God's blessing, is the lesson. 

One stormy night during the American civil war 
some one in conversation with Mr. Lincoln was 
pitying the soldiers in the held. The President 
replied, that there was not one of them with whom 
he would not gladly exchange places that night. 
Responsibility brings burdens. 

Released from that fraternal law 

Which shares the common bale and bliss. 
No sadder lot could folly draw 

Or >in provoke from fate than this. 

J. G. Whittier. 
(222) 



August 10, 
Turn yon at my reproof, — Proveres i. 23, 

WE must be always turning if we would keep 
our life true and according to God's com- 
mandments. There are some flow T ers which always 
turn toward the sun. There was a little potted 
rose-bush in a sick-room which I visited. It sat in 
the window. One day I noticed that the one rose 
on the bush was looking toward the light. I re- 
ferred to it ; and the sick woman said that her 
daughter had turned the rose around several times 
toward the darkness of the room, but that each 
time the little flower had twisted itself back, until 
again its face was toward the light. It would not 
look into the darkness. 

The rose taught me a lesson — never to allow my- 
self to look toward any gloom, but instantly to turn 
from it. Not a moment should we permit our eyes 
to be inclined toward anything sinful. To yield to 
one moment's sinful act is to defile the soul. The 
Bible says in its every verse, " Turn from the wrong, 
the base, the low, the unworthy, to the right, the 
pure, the noble, the godlike." We should not allow 
even an unholy thought to stay a moment in our 
mind, but should turn from its very first suggestion, 
with face full toward Christ, the Holy One. 

But we should train ourselves to turn also from 
all shadows and discouragements. There is always 
a bright side, and we should find it. Discourage- 
ment is full of danger. It weakens and hurts the 
life. 

(223) 



August 11. 

Receive my instruction, a?id not silver ; and knowl- 
edge rather than choice gold. — Proverbs viii. 10. 

IT is hard to convince people in these days that 
anything is or can be better than silver or gold 
or rubies. The best way, however, to look at this 
subject is to think of some of the greater and 
deeper needs of life, and ask what these precious 
things of earth can do to meet them. 

Dr. Arnot represents a party of emigrants wrecked 
on a desert island, far from the tracks of men. 
They get ashore with their stores. They have food 
to last for a time. The soil is rich and the climate 
fine. Soon, however, they find gold, and instantly 
they all begin to search for the precious metal. 
They gather much, and are rich ; but they have not 
sown a grain of seed, and no harvest is coming, 
while the season for sowing is past. Famine is 
upon them, and their gold will not feed their 
hunger. 

This illustrates the value of that wisdom which 
is bread for the life. In the great needs of life, 
money and jewels amount to nothing ; only the 
grace of God will do then. In the time of great 
sorrow no one turns to gold or diamonds for com- 
fort. In the sore struggles of life, in its tempta- 
tions, hardships, and perplexities, these symbols of 
earthly wealth will not meet the needs of the soul. 
When death comes, these things are utterly worth- 
less, are indeed bitter mockeries. We need in these 
experiences a help greater than earth's. 
(224) 



August 12. 

All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and 
cassia, out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have 
made thee glad. — Psalm xlv. 8. 

WE cannot guard too carefully the influences 
which we allow to play upon our life, for 
all of them leave their hue and impress upon us, 
either for beauty or for marring. A great artist 
refused to look upon the works of inferior artists, 
saying that they would affect his style. We should 
seek continual intercourse with the good, the pure, 
the holy ; for in close, sympathetic mingling with 
them we unconsciously receive into our own spirit 
something of their sweetness, their beauty, and the 
aroma of heavenliness that surrounds them. We 
absorb something of whatever we see or touch. 

" Oh! there are some who, while on earth they dwell, 
And seem to differ little from the throng, 
Already to the heavenly choir belong, 
And even hear the same sweet anthem swell; 

They joy at times, with joy unspeakable, 

Pouring to him they love their heartfelt song; 
While to behold him face to face they long, 

As the parched traveller for the cooling well. 

Ask you how such from others may be known? 

Mark those whose look is calm, their brow serene, 
Gentle their words, love breathing in each tone, 

Scattering rich blessings all around, unseen. 

They draw each hour, from living founts above, 

The streams they pour around of peace and joy and love." 

( 22 5) 



August 13. 

Teach me to do thy will ; for thou art my God : thy 
Spirit is good, — Psalm cxliii. 10. 

THERE are so many possibilities in life, in at- 
tainment and achievement, and so many 
opportunities of doing good, that it is a glorious 
thing to live. Surely, then, we ought to make the 
most of our life, not failing to become what Christ 
would have us to be, or to do the sweet things he 
would have us do as we pass along the way. 

Yet life's lessons must always be learned slowly. 
St. Paul was well on in life when he said, " I have 
learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be 
content." The words suggest that the lesson was 
not easily learned ; that it required time and strug- 
gle. It is only fair to infer that St. Paul could not 
have written thus in his earliest epistles. There is 
comfort in this for us common mortals, who in 
younger or middle life grow discouraged because we 
have not St. Paul's contentment. If only we are 
really learning the lesson, there is hope that some 
day we shall be able to say we have learned it. 

The soul alone, like a neglected harp, 

Grows out of tune, and needs a hand divine ; 

Dwell thou within it, tune and touch the chords, 
Till every note and string shall answer thine ! 

Abide in me ! There have been moments pure 
When I have seen thy face and felt thy power; 

Then evil lost its grasp, and passion, hushed, 
Owned the divine enchantment of the hour. 

Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

(226) 



August 14. 

They helped every otie his neighbour ; and every one 
said to his brother, Be of good courage. — Isaiah xli. 6. 

IT was Charles Kingsley who said, " We become 
like God only as we become of use." The 
saying is truer than at first we may think. Every 
glimpse we have of heaven's life is a glimpse of 
usefulness, helpfulness. In olden days angels some- 
times came down to earth, and always they came 
on some errand of service to men. Then, we are 
told in our New Testament that the mission of the 
angels to earth is " to minister to those who shall 
be the heirs of salvation." Thus these pure crea- 
tures of heaven live only to serve. God himself is 
revealed on every Scripture page, and always in the 
same character of helpfulness. Christ came as God 
incarnate ; and his whole life is summed up in the 
words, " He went about doing good." Thus the 
divine life finds its expression in serving, doing 
good. " God is love; 'and love cannot but minister 
and bless, even to the point of utter self-sacrifice. 

" Oh, what a little thing can turn 

A heavy heart from sighs to song ! 
A smile can make the world less stern, 

A word can cause the soul to burn 
With glow of heaven, all night long. 

It needs not that love's gift be great, — 

Some splendid jewel of the soul 
For which a king might supplicate, — 

Nay ! true love's least, at love's true rate, 
Is tithe most royal of the whole." 

(227) 



August 15. 

I zvaited patiently for the Lord ; a?idhe inclined unto 
me, and heard my cry, — Psalm xl. i . 

HAS God taught you some great truth, or re- 
vealed to you, in deep personal experience, 
some new, sweet thought of his love ? What is the 
next thing ? Is it not that you shall whisper the 
blessed secret to some other soul ? After Peter's 
strange vision he sat pondering what it could mean ; 
and while he thought on the vision, the Spirit said 
unto him, "Behold, three men seek thee." The 
picture is very suggestive When we have gotten 
anything from God, there is always some one wait- 
ing to get from us what God has just given to us. 
Heavenly visions are not shown to us to be ab- 
sorbed in our own soul, but to be translated into 
some form that will bless the world. That is what 
the artist does with his visions. That is what we 
should do with ours. 

Scarcely have I asked in prayer 

That which others might not share. 

I who hear with sacred shame 

Praise that paineth more than blame, 

Rich alone in favors lent, 

Virtuous by accident, 

t)oubtful, where I fain would rest, 

Frailest, where I seem the best, 

Only strong for lack of test, — 

What am I that I should press 

Special pleas of selfishness, 

Coolly mounting into heaven 

On my neighbor unforgiven? 

J. G< Whittier. 

(228) 



August 16. 

We know that \ if he shall be manifested, we shall 
be like him ; for we shall see him even as he is. — 
i John iii. 2. 

BISHOP THOBURN tells a beautiful story about 
a picture of his dead child. It seemed a very 
imperfect photograph, so blurred that scarcely a 
trace of the loved features could be seen in it. But 
one day he took the picture to a photographer, and 
asked him if he could do anything to improve it. 
In three weeks the bishop returned ; and as he saw 
the picture in its frame on the wall, he was startled. 
It seemed as if his child were living again before 
him. The image had been in the old picture, but 
was concealed beneath the blurs and mists that 
were there also. The artist, however, had brought 
it out in strong, living beauty, until it was like life 
in its tender charm. 

In every true disciple of Christ there is the image 
of the Master. It may be very dim. Its features 
are overlaid by blurs and blemishes, and are almost 
unrecognizable by human eyes. It is the work of 
Christ in our lives to bring out this likeness, more 
and more clearly, until at last it shines in undimmed 
beauty. This is what Christ is doing in many of 
his ways with us. 

"Who from unsightly bulb or slender root 
Could guess aright 
The story of the flower, the fern, the fruit, 

In summer's height? 
Through tremulous shadows voices call to me, 
'It doth not yet appear what we shall be.' " 
(229) 



August 17. 

Jesus said, Z. f one . . . she hath wrought a 

good work an me. — St. Mark xiv. 6. 

LfTILITY is not the only test. Acts may be 
I beautiful in Christ's sight, even though they 
clo not seem to be immediately helpful to others. 
Marys deed fed no poor, relieved no sick, clothed 
no shivering child, and yet Jesus commended it. 
He is pleased when offerings are made from love 
to him. even though the things offered mav not be 
necessary to his work. There is no real strengthen- 
ing in the ornamental parts of a church building: 
yet who will say that all ornamentation is wrong? 
Is not Go 1 when we honor his house by 

making it beautiful as well as strong ? 

We may not measure all our services to Christ 
by the standard of direct helpfulness to others. 
s ointment, spilled over Christ's head and 
feet, was not a really useful ministry, and yet it was 
and beautiful in Christ's sight. What shall 
we sav of the loveliness which God lavishes every- 
where in nature ? Does the beauty of the flowers. 
of the skies, feed the hunger of the poor? Evi- 
dently it was Mary's love for Christ that pleased 
him, and made her deed beautiful. She had indeed 
wrought a sfood work on him, one that blessed him ; 
for in the great sorrow of his heart as he drew near 
his cross, nothing could so strengthen him as love. 
It made him stronger for the journey to his cross. 
Nothing else that we - give another will be such 
a blessing as love. 

0*3< 



August 18. 

He called to him a little child, and set him in the 
midst of them. — St. Matthew xviii. 2. 

WHEN the disciples wanted to know who was 
greatest, Jesus called a little child, and took 
him on his knee. The disciples were clustered 
around him, and saw what he did. A little child in 
the midst is used ofttimes to teach great lessons 
to older people. When a new baby comes into a 
home, God sets it in the midst of a family as a 
teacher. Parents suppose they are training their 
children, but the children are also teaching and 
training them. 

I learned more of the meaning of the fatherhood 
of God, and of the way he feels toward his children, 
in one week after the first baby came into my home, 
than I had learned from teachers and books, even 
from the Bible, in all the preceding years of my 
life. Every child's life is a book, a new page of 
which is turned over each day. 

Children are not angels, and yet they bring from 
heaven to earth many fragments of loveliness. 
Their influence in a home is a benediction. They 
soften hearts ; they change the whole thought of life 
in their parents. It is no more self ; they begin to 
live for their children. The children open love's 
chambers. They train their parents in patience, 
gentleness, thoughtfulness. While a young child is 
in a home a school of heaven is set up there. Sad 
is it for those within, if they miss the chance of 
learning such blessed lessons. 

( 2 3 J ) 



August 19. 
Tribulation worketh patience. — Romans v. 3. 

PATIENCE is a great lesson to learn. Any 
school in which we can learn it is a good 
school, and the lesson can scarcely be too costly. 
Few things mean more in life than patience. Many 
people wreck the best hopes of their life for want 
of patience. Jesus said, " In your patience ye 
shall win your lives. " That is, to be impatient in 
certain conditions is to lose all ; and to be patient, 
to be able to keep quiet and still in the presence of 
things that try us, is to gain all. Thus patience be- 
comes the very key to success in living. It is surely 
worth while to learn the lesson. 

Patience is ofttimes learned in the school of suf- 
fering. We are there trained to endure ; not to cry 
out in the hour of anguish, but to sing instead. 
Richter tells of the little bird that is shut away in 
the darkness to learn new strains, which afterward 
it sings in the light. Many Christians are taken 
into the darkness, and kept there for a time, while 
they are taught the songs of patience. We look at 
patient people with admiration, not knowing what 
it has cost them to get this pearl of the graces. 

" Angel of patience, sent to calm 

Our feverish brows with cooling balm, 
To lay the storms of hope and fear, 
And reconcile life's smile and tear, 
The throbs of wounded pride to still, 
And make our own our Father's will.' 

( 2 3 2 ) 



August 20. 

The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; 
blessed be the name of the Lord. — Job i. 21. 

GOD'S love is the same in the brightness, and 
when the brightness fades into gloom. It is 
the same in joy, and when the joy turns to grief. 
It is the same when blessings are given, and when 
the blessings are recalled. It does not seem so to 
us ; we easily believe that while God showers favors 
upon us he loves us ; but when he gives sorrow, we 
almost feel that he does not love us as before. Yet 
it may be that there are even richer blessings in the 
things which make us grieve than in those which 
-give us gladness. We know at least that the same 
love sends both. That should be comfort for us. 
It is always love that comes from God, in whatso- 
ever form or guise it comes. We need never doubt 
that this is true. 

" So, day by day and step by step, sustain thy failing strength; 

From strength to strength, indeed, go on through all the 
journey's length. 

God bids thee tarry now and then, forbear the weak com- 
plaint; 

God's leisure brings the weary rest, and cordial gives the 
faint. 

God bids thee labor, and the place is thick with thorn and 
brier ; 

But he will share the hardest task, until he calls thee higher. 

So take each disappointment, friend ; 'tis at thy Lord's com- 
mand ! 

Shall God's appointment seem less good than what thyself 
had planned?" 

(233) 



August 21. 

The word of the Lord came unto Jo7iah the seco?id 
time, — Jonah iii. i. 

JONAH had failed the first time, but God gave 
him a second chance. This shows the divine 
patience. Strict justice would have left Jonah at 
the bottom of the sea, or in the maw of the fish ; 
but God was merciful to him. He had now gone 
through a discipline which left him ready to obey. 

That is the way God often deals with people in 
our own days. When they rebel or disobey him he 
does not cast them off, but puts them under some 
discipline, sometimes sore and painful, to teach 
them obedience, and then tries them again. Many 
of us have to be whipped to duty ; but what a 
blessed thing it is that God is so patient with us ! 
Most of us owe all we are to his disciplines. Thus 
even our falls may become blessings to us. 

We should be very thankful to God for these 
second chances that he gives us when we have 
failed to improve the first chance. Very few peo- 
ple make of their life what God first wanted them 
to make. Then he sets them another lesson, that 
they may try again. Perhaps the second is not so 
beautiful nor so noble as the first ; still it is good, 
and if they are faithful and diligent, they can make 
something worthy even yet of their life. Most of 
us have to be sent more than once on our errands 
for God. Happy are we if we go even at the 
second bidding, although it is far better that we go 
at first. 

( 2 34) 



August 22. 

So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according 
to the word of the Lord, — Jonah iii. 3. 

JONAH had learned his lesson well. We are not 
told where he was after his deliverance, but no 
doubt he had a quiet time for thought. He thought 
over the story of his wilfulness and disobedience, no 
doubt, and was ashamed of his conduct. Thus he 
learned humility, and was ready now to do as God 
might command him. Indeed, he became eager 
for another opportunity to do the work which at 
first he had refused to do. 

There is a story of a regiment of soldiers which 
in some war had been dishonored on a certain bat- 
tle-field. In the next war the same regiment was 
again in the service, and at the first opportunity 
they displayed most heroic courage, thus " burning 
out the shame" of the former field. So Jonah in 
his penitence would long for another chance to go 
for God to Nineveh, that he might wipe out the dis- 
honor of his former disobedience. 

So we see prompt obedience this time, no quib- 
bling, no running away. We ought to get the les- 
son. When we have failed in any task that God 
has set for us, or broken any command that he has 
given to us, not only should our repentance lead us 
to sorrow and confession, but we should eagerly 
prepare ourselves for burning out the shame of our 
past sin and dishonor by a service and an obedience 
worthy of sincere love for Christ. Thus alone do 
we make our repentance worthy. 

035) 



August 23. 

Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he 
died. — 2 Kings xiii. 14. 

A DEATH-BED is a good place from which to 
look at one's own life. In the strange, dim 
light that pours in from eternity, things do not ap- 
pear as they did in the common sunlight. Many 
things that gave pleasure as life went on, give pain 
and shame now in the retrospect, and appear calam- 
itous. This is true of all sins and follies, of all 
gains and pleasures that did not have God's bene- 
diction, of all things done for self and not for 
Christ, of all quarrels and strifes. 

Many things also that seemed hard when they 
came, and that cost pain and self-denial, in the light 
of the death-chamber appear radiant and beautiful. 
Thus the dying hour is the place to test life. If we 
would always ask, before doing any doubtful thing, 
" How will this look when I am dying ? " it would 
save us from many a mistake and sin. 

But the death-bed is also a good place for other 
people to study a man's life. When a man is en- 
gaged in the affairs of the world, he suffers more 
or less from the envy of others. The more active 
and influential he is, the more are men about him 
envious of him. But when a man lies dying, all 
this unjust feeling vanishes. All men feel kindly 
toward him. Whatever has been faulty in him is 
forgotten in the glow of tenderness that his dying 
enkindles ; and whatever has been beautiful in him 
shines out in still fairer beauty. 



August 24, 

As soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he 
revived, and stood up on his feet. — 2 Kings xiii. 21. 

THE bones of Elisha had no more power in 
themselves to give life than any other dead 
man's bones. Yet we may get here the lesson of 
posthumous influence. No man ever wholly dies. 
We have nothing to do with superstitious nonsense 
about relics, — saints' bones, and bits of good men's 
clothing or of their coffins ; but it is true that a 
really good man has influence after he dies. He 
leaves behind him something which cannot die. 
His name has power. If he writes good books, 
these live after him, and give life to the souls that 
their words touch. We ought ever to seek to live 
so as not only to be missed and mourned when we 
die, but to live on after death in our works, our 
name, our influence. 

" Wayside roses droop and fade, 

Bloom and die their own sweet way; 
We know not where their fragrance goes — 
Floating, floating, day by day. 

Pass the foot-sore travellers, 

Breathing in the dusty air ; 
They catch the odor of the flowers, 

And bless the grateful perfume there. 

Such our lives. Sweet words of kindness 
Fall, — we know not where or when; 

Like the fragrance of the roses, 
Reaching far beyond our ken." 

( 2 37> 



August 25. 

Esther spake ittito Hatach, and gave him a message 
unto Mordecai. — Esther iv. 10. 

WE are apt to overlook the minor actors in 
Scripture stories in our absorbed interest 
in the prominent ones. Yet ofttimes these lesser 
people are just as important in their own place, and 
their service is just as essential to the final success 
of the whole, as the greater ones. The little girl in 
the story of Naaman is scarcely seen in the splen- 
dors of the Syrian court ; but without her part we 
should never have had the story at all. The lad 
with the basket is hardly thought of when we read 
the account of the miracle ; but they were his loaves 
with which the Master fed all those hungry thou- 
sands that day on the green grass. The smallest 
links in a chain are ofttimes quite as important as 
the greatest links. 

Hatach was one of these obscure characters. But 
his part was by no means unimportant. If he had 
been a different sort of a man, Mordecai's communi- 
cation with Esther would have been impossible. 
He was a trustworthy messenger. If we cannot 
do brave things like Esther, nor give wise counsels 
like Mordecai, we may at least be useful, as Hatach 
was, in faithful service. And perhaps our lowly 
part may some day prove to have been as essential 
as the great deeds which all men praise. We may 
at least help some others in doing the great things 
that they are set to do in this world. 

(238) 



August 26. 

If thou altogether holdest thy peace . . . thou and 
thy father's house shall perish. — Esther iv. 14. 

THE only safe way in life's thronging field is 
straight on in the path of duty. He who fal- 
ters and hesitates even for one instant, is trodden 
down by the marching hosts behind him. No dan- 
ger of the battle is so great as that of halting and 
trying to turn backward. 

The same is true in all the paths of life. No 
duty, however hard and perilous, should be feared 
one-half so much as failure in the duty. People 
sometimes shrink from responsibility, saying they 
dare not accept it because it is so great. But in 
shrinking from duty they are really encountering 
a far more serious condition than that which they 
evade. It is a great deal easier to do that which 
God gives us to do, no matter how hard it is, than 
to face the responsibility of not doing it. We have 
abundant assurance that we shall receive all the 
strength we need to perform any duty God allots to 
us; but if wewfall out of the line of obedience, and 
refuse to do anything which we ought to do, we 
find ourselves at once out of harmony with God's 
law and God's providence, and cannot escape the 
consequences of our failure. 

So it is always in the end easier and infinitely safer 
to do our duty, whatever it may involve of cost or 
peril, than not to do it. To drop out of the ranks 
in life's crowded pathway is to lose all. To neglect 
opportunities is to throw away honors and crowns. 

( 2 39) 



August 27. 

If thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then 
shall relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from 
another place, — Esther iv. 14. 

OFTEN we sin by speaking, and do incalculable 
harm with our words. But there are times 
when it is a sin not to speak, when to be silent is 
to fail in duty. We are not to speak out the wrong 
thoughts that may be in our heart, but the good 
thoughts and feelings which burn within us it is 
usually our duty to utter. We should never hesi- 
tate to speak out boldly in confession of Christ 
when his honor is assailed by his enemies. To walk 
with an impenitent friend day after day and year 
after year, in close association with him, and never 
to speak a word to him about his spiritual life, is to 
commit a grievous sin against him. 

We have many cautions about watching our 
speech, and withholding words that are not good ; 
but we need to beware also lest we fail to speak the 
words we ought to speak. Especially should we 
beware of silence about spiritual and eternal things. 
God gives to each of us a message — a message of 
life to others; we dare not fail to deliver it. We 
scarcely ever lack words when the themes are trivial ; 
but amid the trivial talk, let us not fail to speak 
some word which shall not be forgotten. 

" Yea, find thou always time to say some earnest word 
Between the idle talk, lest with thee henceforth, 
Night and day, regret should walk." 

(240) 



August 28. 

Who fyioweth whether thou art not come to the king- 
dom for such a time as this ? — Esther iv. 14. 

ONE reason Esther was in the palace at this 
time as queen, was for this very mission, — 
to save her people by interceding for them. She 
was not there by accident. We know the singular 
providences by which she came to her place. 

We live under the same providence, and nothing 
is accidental in the circumstances of our lives. If 
we are true to God, doing his will day by day, we 
are always in the place where he wants us to be ; 
and wherever we are he has something for us to do 
there. Each day God sets our work for us. When 
we find ourselves in the presence of any human 
need or sorrow, we should say, " Perhaps God sent 
me here now, just to bring relief or to give help or 
comfort.'' Sometimes we wonder at the strange 
ways of providence, by which we are carried into 
this place or that ; is there not a key to this 
mystery ? 

It certainly was a strange providence that led 
Esther, the lowly, simple-hearted Jewish maiden, 
into the palace of the great Xerxes to be his queen ; 
but there was a divine purpose in it. She was sent 
there because she would be needed there by and 
by. When God, by some strange providence, brings 
us into peculiar circumstances or associations, it is 
because at some time there will be need for us 
there. We must be careful that we do always the 
thing we find there to do. 
(241) 



August 29. 

I fasted a?td prayed before the God of heaven, — 
Nehemiah i. 4. 

YEARS were not all. Nehemiah also carried the 
burden to God in prayer. He did this before 
he took any step himself for the relief of the suffer- 
ing and the advancement of his work. Compassion 
is Christlike ; but tears alone are not enough. This 
is a lesson we should not forget in our compassion 
for others. God cares more for them than we do, 
and his compassion is deeper than ours ; we may, 
therefore, be sure of interest upon his part when we 
speak the names of our friends in his ear. Besides, 
he knows best how to help. We should take the 
burden to him first, and then be ready to do what 
he may tell us to do. 

The best way for us to help others usually is to 
pray for them. Of course praying is not all we 
should do ; Nehemiah did not stop with tears and 
prayers. He gave himself to the work in behalf of 
his people. He left his luxurious palace, and jour- 
neyed away to Jerusalem, and took earnest hold 
with both hands, giving all his energy and influence 
to the cause. More than tears and prayers are 
needed; there is something for us to do. Many 
people can weep over distress, and then pray fer- 
vently for the relief that is needed, but never do 
anything themselves. Nehemiah's way is better, — 
sympathy, prayer, work. This makes a threefold 
cord which cannot be broken. 

(242) 



August 30. 

But we made our prayer unto our God, and set a 
watch against them day and night, — Nehemiah iv. 9. 

WE are in danger of making prayer a substitute 
for duty, or of trying to roll over on God the 
burden of caring for us and doing things for us, 
while we sit still and do nothing. When we pray 
to be delivered from temptation, we must keep out 
of the way of temptation unless duty clearly calls 
us there. We must also watch against temptation, 
resist the Devil, and stand firm in obedience and 
faith. When we ask God for our daily bread, 
pleading the promise that we shall not want, we 
must also be ready to earn God's bread, and thus 
make it ours honestly. A lazy man came once and 
asked alms, saying that he could not find bread for 
his family. "Nor can I," replied the industrious 
mechanic to whom he had applied. " I am obliged 
to work for it." 

While we pray for health, we must use the means 
to obtain it. While we ask for wisdom, we must 
use our brains and think, searching for wisdom as 
for hid treasure. While we ask God to help us 
break off a bad habit, we must also strive to over- 
come the habit. Prayer is not a mere device for 
saving people from toil, struggle, and responsibility. 
When there is no human power adequate to the 
need, we may ask God to work without us, and in 
some way he will help us. But ordinarily we must 
do our part, asking God to work in and through us, 
and to bless us through faithful obedience. 
(243) 



August 31, 

Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens 
is decayed ; . . . so that we are not able to build. — 
Nehemiah iv. 10. 

THERE are always croakers and discouragers. 
They find fault with their part of the work, 
and object to the methods of those in charge. We 
remember how it was with the spies sent to look 
over the promised land. It was a good country, 
they said, rich and fertile, but, oh, the giants that 
were there ! So ten frightened men discouraged 
a whole nation. People are forever making it 
harder for others to live by going about with their 
murmurings and groan ings. 

These people of Judah in Nehemiah's time seem 
to have been only half-hearted. They were not 
willing to make sacrifices to get the city rebuilt. 
Nothing good is ever accomplished without cost. 
Gold is not picked up in the streets. Half-hearted- 
ness is not weakness merely ; it is sin. All through 
the ages men who have been blessings to the world 
have been willing to bear burdens that were too 
heavy for them. Easy living never accomplished 
much for God or the world. 

Some murmur when the sky is clear 

And wholly bright to view, 
If one small speck of dark appear 

In their great heaven of blue; 
And some with thankful love are filled 

If but one streak of light, 
One ray of God's good mercy, gild 

The darkness of their night. 

(244) R - c - Trench. 



September 1. 

Be not ye afraid of them : remember the Lord, . . . 
and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your 
daughters, your wives, a?id your houses \ — Nehemiah 
iv. 14. 

EVERY one with a spark of manhood in him will 
fight to the death for his own. We are all so 
tied up together that this motive is really present 
in all our defending of the right. We must seek 
the safety of the town in which we live because our 
family is in it, and peril to the place is peril to 
ours. We must seek wholesome water supply, good 
drainage, and clean streets for the town, because 
our children and friends live there. So with the 
moral and religious influences of the community ; 
the welfare of our sons and daughters, our brothers 
and sisters, is involved. A man may have no in- 
terest in the fight against the saloon ; but if the 
evil be let alone, by and by his own boys may be 
destroyed by it. 

A distinguished man was speaking at the open- 
ing of a reformatory for boys, and remarked that 
if only one boy were saved from ruin it would pay 
for all the cost. After the exercises were over a 
gentleman asked him if he had not put it too 
strongly when he said that all the cost of founding 
such an institution would be repaid if only one boy 
should be saved. " Not if it were my boy," was the 
answer. It is only when we learn to look at all 
such movements as if we were working for our own, 
that we do our best work. 

( 2 45) 



September 2. 

Every one with o?ie of his hands wrought in the 
work, and with the other held his weapo?i ; a?id the 
builders, every one had his sword girded by his side. — 
Nehemiah iv. 17, 18. 

WE should all work on the wall of God's tem- 
ple, every one building over against his own 
door. We should never slack in our diligence ; 
there is some duty for each moment. But we work 
amid enemies. On every side are those who oppose 
us, and are ready to assault us and to stop us in 
our service. The Christian young man in the store 
or shop, in the school or college, is constantly ex- 
posed to temptation. His companions are not all 
godly. Some of them will seek to draw him away 
from Christ. In his own heart, too, there are ene- 
mies which resist the good that is striving within 
him and seek his destruction. 

So while he works he must also be ready any in- 
stant to fight. Every Christian should have his 
sword girded continually by his side. The Chris- 
tian's sword is " the word of God." The best prep- 
aration, therefore, for meeting the world's enmity is 
to become filled with the Holy Scriptures. There 
come many occasions through life when a verse 
quoted will be a sword drawn to smite an enemy. 
Thus it was that Jesus vanquished the tempter, at 
each temptation drawing out a word of God, and 
with it smiting the adversary. So we all may learn 
to fight, building ever on the wall of character, and 
ever thrusting back the enemy that assails us. 

(246) 



September 3. 

Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet. a?id 
send portions unto thein for whom nothing is prepared. 
— Nehemiah viii. 10. 

GOD loves to have us enjoy ourselves. He does 
not want us to be long-faced ; joy is the ideal 
Christian life. Of course we are to be sorry when 
we sin ; but when we have confessed the sin, truly 
repented of it, and found mercy, we are to dry our 
tears and rejoice. Why should we not be happy 
when God has forgiven us, made us his children, 
and assured us of everlasting glory ? 

But our joy must not be selfish. When we are 
prosperous, we should not forget those who are 
poor ; when we are happy in our homes of love, 
with unbroken circles, we should not forget the 
families that are in sorrow. The good things God 
gives us are not meant for ourselves alone. They 
are given us to be passed on. " It is more blessed 
to give than to receive." People who keep all to 
themselves, and eat the fat and drink the sweet in 
their own houses, at their own well-covered tables, 
never thinking of the hungry ones outside, are not 
the kind of children God wants them to be. The 
very essence of Christian life is unselfishness. 

The Holy Supper is kept, indeed, 

In whatso we share with another's need; 

Not what we give, but what we share — 

For the gift without the giver is bare; 

Who gives himself with his alms feeds three — 

Himself, his hungry neighbor, and me. 

J. R. Lowell. 

( 2 47) 



September 4. 

Neither be ye grieved ; for the joy of the Lord is your 
strength. — Nehemiah viii. 10. 

IF we would be strong for service, and would do 
our best always, we must cultivate a joyful 
spirit. No duty is urged in the Bible more ear- 
nestly than the duty of Christian joy. Of course we 
must make sure that it is the joy of the Lord we 
have. We must draw the water of our gladness 
out of the wells of salvation, not out of the muddy 
pools of earth. The joy of the Lord comes from 
the heart of Christ. When we have this joy we are 
strong; for joy inspires us, fills us with hope and 
courage. When we can sing at our toil, or in our 
sorrow, we are in no danger of being overcome. 

Forget the past, and live the present hour; 

Now is the time to work, the time to fill 

The soul with noblest thoughts, the time to will 
Heroic deeds, to use whatever dower 
Heaven has bestowed, to test our utmost power. 

Now is the time to love, and better still, 

To serve our loved ones, over passing ill 
To rise triumphant; thus the perfect flower 
Of life shall come to fruitage; wealth amass 

For grandest giving ere the time be gone. 

Be glad to-day, to-morrow may bring tears; 
Be brave to-day, the darkest night will pass, 

And golden rays will usher in the dawn; 
Who conquers now shall rule the coming years. 

Sarah K. Bolton. 



(h8) 



September 5. 

Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia . . . he hath 
charged me to build him an house. — Ezra i. 2. 

IT comforts us to know that nothing is going 
wrong in this world, though at times all seems 
confusion. It ought to comfort us to know that 
there is One, greater than men, who rules over all 
things. A little boy sat in front of his father in a 
carriage, and held the reins. But his father held 
them too, although the boy did not know it. Pres- 
ently the boy felt one of the reins drawn through 
his little hands. He understood it then, and said, 
" Father, I thought I was driving ; but I am not, 
am I ? " We think we are doing great things, but 
there is One behind us whose hand really holds the 
>reins. 

"Pull, little maid!" he would cheer me, but still kept his 
hand on the oar, 
Though sometimes I'd try to turn us to some pretty nook on 

the shore; 
Still straight went the boat to the harbor, and as I* grew 

stronger each day, 
I found that the only wisdom was in rowing my father's way. 

And I think, sir, that God our Father keeps hold of the world 
just so. 

We may strive and struggle our utmost, that we may stronger 
grow, 

Stronger and wiser and humbler, till at last we can under- 
stand 

The beauty and peace of his keeping the oar through all life 
in his hand. 

(249) 



September 6. 

Whosoever there is atnong you of all his people . . . 
let him go up . . . and build the house of the Lord. 
— Ezra i. 3. 

THERE is another temple to build for the Lord, 
and builders are wanted. The proclamation 
comes now, not from a heathen king, but from 
Christ himself. Every o>ne is invited to take part 
in this great work. The temple at Jerusalem, on 
which these builders wrought, has long since per- 
ished, and every trace of their work has been de- 
stroyed. But the temple for which Christ seeks 
builders shall stand forever, and everything any one 
may do on it shall be eternal. 

How can we build on the heavenly temple ? By 
doing all we can in this world for Christ. Our own 
lives are parts of the temple. We may seek to 
have our characters made beautiful and holy. Then 
we can strive to bring others to Christ, to make 
other lives better, to help build up in them a like- 
ness to the Lord Jesus. The smallest things we 
can do for Christ will be like the stones laid on the 
walls of God's great house, which is rising within 
the veil, or like ornaments, little touches of beauty, 
on some part of the glorious building. We cannot 
see now that our work is of any value, but some 
day we shall see that nothing which we have done 
with pure motive for our Lord has been done in 
vain. No touch laid on another life in love shall 
ever fade out. 

( 2 S°) 



September 7. 

The children of Israel, the priests a?id the Levites, 
and the rest . . . kept the dedication of this house of 
God with joy. — Ezra vi. 16. 

IT was a glad occasion when that building stood 
there completed on the sacred mount. It had 
risen out of ruins. It had cost great sacrifice and 
toil. It had been built up amid many discourage- 
ments and hindrances. Tears had fallen on many 
a stone as it was lifted to its place. 

Things we do through cost, self-denial, hardship, 
and hindrance are far dearer to us and more sacred 
than things we do with ease, without feeling the 
burden or the cost. Churches built by poor, strug- 
gling congregations, whose people have to sacrifice 
and deny themselves to gather the money, yield 
far more joy to their builders when finished than 
beautiful and costly churches reared by the rich. 
They are built out of people's hearts, and shine in 
heaven's sight in love's splendor. 

Our joy in doing God's work, and in making gifts 
to God, is measured by the real cost of the things 
we do and give. The more heart's blood there is 
in them, the more precious will they be to us and 
also to God. The richest treasures of our lives are 
those which have cost us the most. 

All common good has common price; 

Exceeding good exceeding; 
Christ bought the keys of Paradise 

By cruel bleeding. 

J. G, Holland, 

(251) 



September 8. 

In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day 
of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai. 
— Haggai ii. i. 

THE Lord always seeks to be an encourager. 
These returned captives were very much dis- 
couraged. They had begun with great enthusiasm to 
build the temple, but difficulties had risen. Then the 
Lord sent his servant to hearten the governor and the 
people, to cheer them, that they might go on through 
all the obstacles which faced them. That is the way 
the Lord is always doing with his children. He 
does not want us ever to yield to discouragement. 
Of course life is hard at many a point. There 
are ofttimes difficult tasks to perform, and sore strug- 
gles to endure. Things often seem to fail in our 
hands. Our plans miscarry, our hopes disappoint us. 
We meet opposition and enmity, and it seems to us 
we can never get through with the things we are 
set to do. But when we open the Bible we find en- 
couragement on every page. We are there taught 
never to yield to despair. There can be no failure 
in duty if only we are faithful. We never can be 
defeated in temptation if only we stand true to 
Christ. We never can sink under our burden, if 
only we cast it upon Christ. The things that seem 
to be failures become successes when God's hand 
is in them. So God ever comes to encourage us in 
our difficulties. " Fear not ; I am with you," is the 
formula of divine cheer in every hour of trial. 
Therefore we should never lose heart. 
( 2 5 2 ) 



September 9. 
I waited patiently for the Lord. — Psalm xl. i. 

THERE come times in every one's life when no 
exertion of his own can do anything, and 
when no human power can help. Then he should 
commit all to God, and wait for him. And it is 
no ignorant confidence that we may have at such 
times ; for our Father rules this world, and has a 
plan for each life. We can safely trust him to 
bring aid, deliverance, or light at the right time. 

There are occasions when a patient waiting is 
our highest duty. When we are working for souls 
we must present the truth, and then commit the 
result to God. Time is necessary for some spiritual 
processes, and the result cannot come immediately. 
In prayer we sometimes have to wait for the an- 
swer, even to wait long, but we should never be 
impatient. 

The days went by, but nothing brought 
Be/ond the wonted round of care; 

And I was vexed with anxious thought, 
And found the waiting hard to bear. 

But when I said, " In vain I pray ! " 

I heard him answer gently, " Nay." 

So praying still, and waiting on, 

And pondering what the waiting meant, 

This knowledge sweet at last I won, — 
And oh, the depth of my content ! 

My blessed task for every day 

Is humbly, gladly, to obey. 

Harriet McEwen Kimball. 

( 2 53) 



September 10. 

And he said unto me, What seest thou ? And I said, 
I have seen, and behold, a candlestick all of gold, and 
its bowl upon the top of it, and its seve?i lamps thereo?i. 
— Zechariah iv. 2. 

A CANDLESTICK suggests light. Every Chris- 
tian should be a light-bearer. God wants us 
to shine. The world is dark, and we are to pour 
light into its darkness. Our character must shine. 
That means, to put it very simply, that we must be 
good. To be good is to be first pure in heart. A 
little child said she liked best of all the beatitudes 
the one about a pure heart, because if she had that 
blessing she would have all the others too. A pure, 
good, loving heart will make a life shine. " God is 
love," and we are like God just so far as we are loving. 
That means love to God first, and then love to all men. 
We are therefore to be obedient, trustful, and rev- 
erent toward God, and gentle, unselfish, patient, 
thoughtful, kindly and helpful toward men. 

We will find that it is not always easy to shine 
with love's light. The candle wastes, burns itself 
up, in shining. So does life. It costs to be un- 
selfish, patient, thoughtful, and useful. We have 
to be forgiving, to bear injuries sweetly, to deny 
ourselves and make personal sacrifices, continually, 
in order to be gentle, patient, and kind when others 
are rude to us. It costs to shine ; nevertheless we 
are to shine. Christ gave his blessed life to be 
consumed on the candlestick of divine love, to light 
the world. 

(254) 



September 11. 

Be stro?ig all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, 
and work. — Haggai ii. 4. 

THERE are many times in most people's lives 
when this fragment of a lesson ought to be 
inspiring and helpful. Men are called to do some 
work for God, and their resources of strength ap- 
pear to be altogether inadequate. They look at 
the small beginning or the unpromising condition, 
and say they never can do the work, nor achieve 
the result expected. Nearly all beginnings of good 
things are small. The Christian church began with 
two followers. Missionary efforts have all had a 
most unpromising start. 

In our individual lives the same thing is true. It 
does not seem to us that we can ever accomplish 
anything worthy with our feeble strength. But the 
word of God rings out : " Be strong, and work ; for 
I am with you." God never gives us a duty but 
that he means to help us with his presence and 
strength so that we need not fail in it. If we lose 
heart, and let our hands hang down in idleness, 
nothing will come of the little beginning, and God's 
purpose will fail in our hands through our own lack 
of earnestness. But if we do our whole duty, the 
end will be blessing and success. 

" That trust is sweetest and that faith the best 
Which, having done such share 
As human life demands, then leaves the rest 
To the dear Father's care." 

(25s) 



September 12. 

The Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. — 
Zechariah iii. 2. 

THE Lord is the friend of his people, and will 
not stand by inactive when Satan is plotting 
against any of them. He is the defender especially 
of the defenceless. This characteristic of the divine 
love is revealed in all parts of the Scriptures. God 
is the God of the weak. In the Mosaic laws defi- 
nite provision was made for the widow and the 
orphan. Something was to be left for them when 
the harvests were gathered. The poor were put 
under special protection, to shield them from the 
oppression of the rich and the strong. God's 
thought for the poor appeared amid even the de- 
tailed laws given for common life. 

Every child of God is an object of peculiar divine 
care. The weakest of his children is safe in his 
keeping, even amid the greatest dangers. Xo harm 
can come to any of them while nestling in his 
bosom. We may safely leave our defending in the 
Lord's hands when Satan assails us, and when any 
one would do us harm. 

Our Father, deliver thy children from sin, 
From evil without and from evil within, 
From this world, with its manifold evil and wrong, 
From the wiles of the Evil One, subtle and strong; 
Till, as Christ overcame, we, too. conquer and sing, 
11 All glory to thee, our victorious King, 
For thine is the power." 

Frances Ridley Havergal. 

(256) 



September 13. 

Then she said, Did I desire a soil of my lord ? — 
2 Kings iv. 28. 

THE woman's thought seems to have been, " It 
would have been better had I remained as 
I was, with no voice of love in my home, my 
heart unfilled with affection, than that I should 
know and experience the gladness of motherhood 
for this brief time, and then be robbed of the joy. V 
No doubt similar thoughts ofttimes come to those 
who are bereft of friends. In their deep grief it 
seems to them that it would have been better if 
they had never had their friends at all than to have 
had them a little while, to have learned to love 
them so, and to find such blessing in them, and 
then to lose them. But Tennyson's word in " In 
Memoriam " is far more true than this : — 

" 'Tis better to have loved and lost, 

Than never to have loved at all." 

Loving itself blesses us. It opens our heart and 
enriches our life. It teaches us the true meaning 
of life ; for to live truly is to love. Then the taking 
away of our dear one does not rob us of the bless- 
ings which loving wrought in us. These we keep 
forever, though the friend be with us no more. 
Even if this child had not been restored to the 
mother in this world, she would still have kept for- 
ever the impressions and the influences which the 
child in its brief, beautiful years had left upon her 
life. 

(257) 



September 14. 

That seeing they may see, and not perceive, — St. 
Mark iv. 12. 

IT is a mistake not to use one's eyes to see things 
that are to be seen. The result is that in the 
end one has no eyes with which to see. Refusing 
to listen to the words of God that are spoken in 
gentleness and love, results in the loss of the power 
to hear, so that in all God's universe of love one 
shall hear no sweet sound ; so that the very voices 
of tender mercy shall become screams of terror. 
Refusing to understand the things of God leads to 
the dulling and deadening of the soul, so that at 
last one cannot understand if he would. 

We should learn to keep all the gates of our soul 
open toward heaven. We should train ourselves to 
see whatever God would show us. Thus shall our 
eyes become able to see more and more beauty in 
God and in all his works. We should keep our 
ears attent to hear every word that God speaks to 
us. We should strive to understand what God 
teaches us ; for to those who seek, all hidden mys- 
teries at length become clear. 

" There's many a gem in the path of life, 

Which we pass in our idle pleasure, 
That is richer far than the jewelled crown 

Or the miser's hoarded treasure; 
It may be the love of a little child, 

Or the mother's prayer to heaven, 
Or only a beggar's grateful thanks, 

For a cup of water given." 

(258) 



September 15. 

jfesus . . . turned him about in the crowd, and saia \ 
Who touched my garments ? — St. Mark v. 30. 

THE crowd was close about Jesus, and many 
people touched him ; but there was one touch 
different from the others. There was a heart's cry 
in it, a pleading, a piteous supplication. It was a 
touch of faith, inspired by a deep sense of need. 
It was not an accidental touch, a mere touch of 
nearness ; it was intentional. 

This incident illustrates what is going on all the 
while about Christ. We cannot move without press- 
ing up against him. Sometimes in our heedless- 
ness we jostle him rudely. But when among all 
earth's millions one person intentionally reaches out 
a hand to feel after Christ, to touch him with a pur- 
pose, to seek for some blessing, to crave some help, 
he instantly knows the pressure of that touch, and 
turns to answer it. He knows when any heart 
wants him, no matter how obscure the person, how 
poor, how hidden away in the crowd. Blessing 
came that day to none in that crowd, so far as we 
know, save to this poor, sick woman who touched 
Christ's clothes. It came to her because she had 
a burden on her heart and sought Christ's help. 

So in every company there are some who are 
close, and yet receive no blessing, because there is 
no faith in their touching. Then there are those 
who are no nearer, but who reach out their hands 
in faith, and touch Christ's clothes, and go away 
helped, comforted. 

059) 



September 16. 

Blessed are ye poor ; for yours is the ki?igdom of 
God. - — St. Luke vi. 20. 

THE blessed ones of the Bible are not those 
whom this world considers happy. Indeed, 
in the opinion of earth those whom Christ calls 
blessed have a dreary life. He says the meek are 
blessed, the poor in spirit, the pure in heart, the 
peacemakers, they that mourn, and they who are 
persecuted for righteousness' sake. It would be 
hard to convince the man of this world that these 
are the really blessed ones. But that is the way it 
appears to the eyes that look down from heaven, 
and that is the standard of life by which we must 
be measured in the divine judgment. 

It is assuring to hear Jesus himself speak beati- 
tudes for men. He knew who really are the 
blessed. He knew the difference between the 
earthly ideals of happiness and the heavenly ideals. 
We may safely trust his estimates, and know that 
they are right. We know, too, that he came into 
this world to make blessedness possible for men 
who were lost in sin. On the cross he died to make 
men happy. It is pleasant to remember, too, that 
the last glimpse this w r orld had of Jesus he was in 
the attitude of blessing men. He had his hands 
stretched out over his disciples when he began to 
ascend. Ever since that moment benedictions have 
been raining down from those pierced hands upon 
a sorrowing earth. Those who do not receive bless- 
ings shut their hearts against them. 
(260) 



September 17. 

When the Lord saw her, he had compassion 011 her, 
and said unto her, Weep not. — -St. Luke vii. 13. 

A SORROW in a home sends out a wave of 
tender feeling which impresses a wide com- 
munity. While crape hangs on a door, almost 
every one of the great throng of passers-by is made 
at least for the moment a little more thoughtful. 
Even strangers going by feel the influence, and 
their hearts are warmed by it. Whatever thus 
touches men with a gentler mood, though but tran- 
siently, becomes a blessing in the world. There is 
a humanizing influence in sympathy. It makes 
men more tolerant of each other, more patient with 
each other's faults, more loving and thoughtful. 
That which is changing the world these days from 
cruelty and savageness into lovingness and brother- 
liness is a sorrow — the sorrow of Calvary. 

My heart was heavy, for its trust had been 
Abused, its kindness answered with cruel wrong; 
So turning gloomily from my fellow-men, 
One summer Sabbath day, I strolled among 
The green mounds of the village burial-place, 
Where, pondering how all human love and hate 
Find one sad level, and how, soon or late, 
Wronged and wrong-doer, each with meekened face 
And cold hands folded over a still heart, 
Pass the green threshold of our common grave, 
Whither all footsteps tend, whence none depart; 
Awed for myself, and pitying my race, 
Our common sorrow like a mighty wave 
Swept all my pride away, and trembling, I forgave. 

J. G. Whittier. 

(261) 



September 18. 

A voice came out of the cloud, saying, Tliis is my 
Son, my chosen ; hear ye him. — St. Luke ix. 35. 

MANY of the sweetest revealings of comfort are 
spoken to God's children out of the clouds 
of sorrow. Many a Christian learns more about 
God in a brief season of trouble than he has learned 
before in years of earthly prosperity. We should 
never see the stars if the sun did not go down. We 
should never see the promises that gem the Bible 
pages, like stars in the sky, were there no darken- 
ing of the sky of human prosperity and joy. Out 
of our clouds, too, comes the Father's voice, saying, 
"This is my Son." It is Christ who comes even 
in the shadow that for a time hides and darkens 
his face. He is in the centre of every cloud. 

There is significance also in the other word from 
the cloud, " Hear ye him." We must learn to lis- 
ten to Christ and to him only. There are mysteries 
about Christianity, things hard to be understood, 
but we may safely wait for the solution of these, 
meanwhile doing sweetly and quietly the things 
that Christ bids us do. Hereafter we shall know. 

Rain comes out of clouds, and if there is no rain 
all nature suffers. So out of sorrow's clouds the 
rain falls, and our lives are enriched thereby. 

" The meadow was parched and brown and dry, 

And listless drooped each bloom ; 
So wan and weak, they could hardly sigh, 
" If it doesn't rain, we all must die; 

Oh, that the rain would come ! " 

(262) 



September 19. 

If any man ivoirfd come after me, let him deny him- 
self and take up his cross daily, and follow me. — 
St. Luke ix. 23. 

THE more important is the position we occupy, 
and the greater are its responsibilities, the 
more cares will it bring. The quiet calm is found 
in the low valley, not on the mountain-top. As we 
rise in life our burdens increase. We need to learn 
how to carry our load cheerfully when it gets heavy. 
We cannot reach the higher places, and miss the 
steep climbing that leads to them. If we would 
gain the heights, we must consent to climb up the 
steep and rugged mountain. It was not a mere 
dream that visioned life to the patriarch as a ladder. 

" Does the road wind uphill all the way?" 

" Yes, to the very end ! " 
u Will the day's journey take the whole long day? " 

" From morn to night, my friend ! " 

" But is there for the night a resting-place? " 
" A roof for all when the dark hours begin ! " 

u May not the darkness hide it from my face? " 
u You cannot miss that inn ! " 

" Shall I meet other wayfarers at night? " 

" Those who have gone before ! " 
" Then must I knock or call when just in sight? " 

" They will not keep you standing at that door ! " 

" Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak ? " 

" Of labor you shall find the sum ! " 

" Will there be beds for me and all who seek? " 

" Yea — beds for all who come ! " 

Christina Rossetti. 

(263) 



September 20. 

If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. — St. 
John xiv. 15. 

LOVE is more than a mere sentiment ; it is also 
j a life. The proof of it must be in acts. Thus 
in one of his epistles this disciple of love writes : 
" Hereby know we love, because he laid down his 
life for us : and we ought to lay down our lives for 
the brethren. But whoso has the world's goods, 
and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up 
his compassion from him, how doth the love of God 
abide in him ? My little children, let us not love 
in word, neither with the tongue ; but in deed and 
truth." 

This same principle applies to our profession of 
love for Christ. It is not enough that we sing it in 
our hymns, say it in our prayers, or utter it in our 
creed ; we must show it in our life. A fruit-tree 
proves its usefulness by bearing fruit in the season. 
The rose-bush must prove its right to the distinction 
by putting forth beautiful roses. And when we 
claim to be Christ's friends, we must show it by 
doing what he bids us to do. 

Be what thou seemest; live thy creed; 

Hold up to earth the torch divine; 
Be what thou prayest to be made; 

Let the great Master's steps be thine. 

Sow love, and taste its fruitage pure; 

Sow peace, and reap its harvest bright; 
Sow sunbeams on the rock and moor, 

And find a harvest-home of light. 

(264) Bonar. 



September 21. 

Yea, Lord : for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which 
fall from their masters' table, — St. Matthew xv. 27. 

WHEN Jesus spoke to the poor Gentile woman 
in the language of the time, as if she were 
but a dog, she was not offended. She was willing 
to be as a dog under the Master's table. She was 
ready to grant to the Jews the children's place. 
The position Jesus had assigned to her satisfied 
her. For the dogs under the table did not starve. 
The children were first served, and then the pieces 
of bread which they let fall belonged to the dogs. 
Even the crumbs from that table were enough for 
her. Thus her humility and also her faith were 
shown. We should come to Christ with a deep 
sense of our unworthiness, ready to take the lowest 
place ; and we should realize that even the crumbs 
of his grace and love are better than all the feasts 
of this world. 

Not worthy, Lord, to gather up the crumbs 
With trembling hand, that from thy table fall, 

A weary, heavy-laden sinner comes 

To plead thy promise and obey thy call. 

I am not worthy to be thought thy child, 
Or sit the last and lowest at thy board; 

Too long a wanderer and too oft beguiled, 
I only ask one reconciling word. 

I hear thy voice; thou bid'st me come and rest; 

I come, I kneel, I clasp thy pierced feet : 
Thou bid'st me take my place, a welcome guest 

Among thy saints, and of thy banquet eat. 

/ 2 6 BlCKERSTETH. 



September 22. 

Be ye imitators of mc\ even as I also am of Christ. 
— i Corinthians xi. i. 

OXE way in which God reveals himself to us is 
through the lives of the good and the saintly. 
Next to living in direct communion with him is liv- 
ing with others who thus live with him. Converse 
with those who lie in Christ's bosom and who know 
the secret of the Lord cannot but greatly enrich 
our own knowledge of divine things. Yet in these 
busy days we are quite in danger of losing almost 
altogether out of our lives this rich means of grace. 
One has said : " Do not think it wasted time to sub- 
mit yourself to any influence which may bring upon 
you any noble feeling. " 

The Lord is in his holy place, 

In all things near and far; 
Shekinah of the snowflake he, 

And Glory of the star, 
And Secret of the April-land 

That stirs the field to flowers, 
Whose little tabernacles rise 

To hold him through the hours. 

He hides himself within the love 

Of those w r e love the best; 
The smiles and tones that make our homes 

Are shrines by him possessed. 
He tents within the lonely heart 

And shepherds ever)' thought; 
We find him not by seeking long, 

We lose him not unsought. 

William C. Gannett. 

(266) 



September 23. 

Be not deceived ; God is not mocked : for whatsoever 
a man sowet/i y that shall he also reap. — Galatians 
vi. 7. 

PEOPLE have loose notions about sin. They 
think they can go on through life in disobedi- 
ence of God's commands, and defiance of all moral 
laws, and then, by a single act of penitence, in a 
moment, have all the consequences of their sinning 
wiped out, all the effects in their own nature of 
lifelong evil habits reversed, and their character 
changed into saintly beauty and meetness for the 
kingdom of heaven. 

But the Bible does not teach this. Those who 
choose sin for their way in life must eat sin's fruit. 
The fruit of trees drops off, but sin's fruits stay in 
the life and become part of it. One may sow com- 
mon seeds, and others gather and eat the harvest; 
but the sinner must gather and eat the fruit of his 
own sowing. 

We are not through with our life as we live it. 
Every act, every word, every thought, every choice, 
is a seed which we drop. We go on carelessly, 
never dreaming that we shall ever again see our deeds. 
Then some day we come upon an ugly plant grow- 
ing somewhere, and we ask, " What is this ? " 
Comes the answer, " I am one of your plants. You 
dropped the seed which grew into me." Our lives 
are the little garden plats in which it is our privi- 
lege to drop seeds. We shall have to eat the fruits 
of the seeds of which we are planting these days. 

( 2 6 7 ) 



September 24. 

Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, 
coming down from the Father of lights. — James i. 17. 

THERE are many good things that come to us 
through our friends. The father toils and 
serves, and leaves an inheritance for his children. 
Many rich blessings come to us through human 
affections. Hands are ever being reached out to 
us, hands of love and kindliness, offering us good 
things. We owe far more than we ever can esti- 
mate to those who love us. The kindly ministry 
of friends brings countless benefits to our lives. 

But every one of these is a blessing sent to us 
from God. The human hands that bring them are 
but the hands of messengers. This is only one of 
God's ways of sending his good things to us. St. 
James tells us also that all that God gives us is 
good, and that every boon of his is perfect. Some- 
times we think that what we receive from God can- 
not be good. We think he must have changed 
toward us. It is a loss or a disappointment, and 
it seems unkind. But in whatever form it comes, 
there is a blessing — some good — wrapped up in 
everything God sends to any of his children. 

An easy thing, O Power divine, 

To thank thee for these gifts of thine ! 

For summer's sunshine, winter's snow, 

For hearts that kindle, thoughts that glow : 

But when shall I attain to this, — 

To thank thee for the things I miss? 

Thomas Wentworth Higgixson. 

(268) 



September 25. 

Ye have this day rejected your God, who himself 
saveth you out of all your calamities and your dis- 
tresses. — i Samuel x. 19. 

WE are very quick to see ingratitude in those 
whom we have befriended, who forget our 
kindness and treat us ill. We like to quote in such 
connection the fable of the serpent, frozen by the 
wayside, which the benevolent passer-by took up 
and put in his bosom to warm, but which returned 
his kindness by striking its deadly fangs into his 
flesh. 

Let us be honest toward God. Let us judge our- 
selves in relation to his mercies and favors to us by 
the same rule which we so inexorably apply to our 
fellow-men. What has God done for us ? What 
mercies and favors have we received from him ? 
From what adversities and tribulations has he de- 
livered us ? Are we saved ? Are we on the way 
now to heaven and glory ? Who forgave us our 
sins ? W T ho rescued us out of the hands of Satan ? 
W T ho keeps us day by day ? 

There is only one answer. How, then, are we 
treating this Deliverer, Saviour, and Friend ? Do 
we recognize him as our King and Lord ? Or are 
we rejecting him and demanding another ? It is 
well that we sit down quietly, while this matter is 
before us, and see whether we are free from the 
sharp blame which the prophet here lays upon these 
ancient people. May it not be that we, too, are 
neglecting the God who has saved us ? 
(269) 



September 26. 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom 
shall I fear ? — Psalm xxvii. i. 

THE thought is, that God is a fortress like stone 
walls around his people. The same thought 
is found elsewhere. " The eternal God is thy ref- 
uge." " God is our refuge." " As the mountains 
are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round 
about his people. " It is not said that the Lord 
builds a refuge about his people, but that he him- 
self is the refuge. He puts himself between them 
and peril. The stork and other birds, when there 
is danger, cover their young with their own bodies, 
receiving the assault themselves and shielding their 
brood. So Christ said he would gather his people 
as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings. 
Thus on Calvary he did receive on himself the 
terrible storm, that his people, coming under the 
shadow of the cross, might be sheltered. 

So about every individual believer's life God is 
a fortress, in which, in every danger, he may hide 
and be safe. If this be true, of whom indeed shall 
we be afraid ? The only thing is, to make sure that 
we can say for ourselves the words, " The Lord is 
the stronghold of my life." It makes a very great 
difference on which side of a fortress one is when 
the battle is raging. Outside its strong walls one 
finds no protection, while its missiles fall every- 
where, dealing death. It is only inside that its 
shelter is enjoyed. We must be in Christ by a 
simple faith. 

(270) 



September 27. 

The elders . . . said unto him, Behold, thou art old, 
— i Samuel viii. 4, 5. 

THEY meant that his old age made him inef- 
ficient as a ruler. It was a suggestion to him 
that he would better resign and let them choose 
some other ruler. They seem to have forgotten 
that he had grown old in their service ; that they 
owed to him whatever of grandeur or real glory 
there was in their land. They forgot, also, that his 
years had brought him more wisdom, and had fitted 
him all the better to rule them, and that he could 
do more for them now than ever he had done. 
Their conduct toward him was most ungrateful. 

This fault is too common in our own days. We 
are lacking in reverence for the aged. We are too 
ready to ask them to step aside when they have 
grown gray in serving us, to make room for younger 
people to take up the work they have been doing 
so long and so faithfully. 

We ought to venerate old age, especially when it 
has ripened in ways of righteousness and in service 
of self-denial for the good of others. Those who 
have given all their life to God's service ought to 
receive honor and affection from younger Chris- 
tians. Often they are lonely; we know not what 
sorrows they have endured, what sad memories fill 
their hearts, how they crave sympathy and love. 
No sight is more beautiful than that of a young 
person showing respect and homage to one who 
is old. 

(271) 



September 28. 

I am old and gray-headed , . . I have walked before 
you from my youth unto this day, — i Samuel xii. 2. 

OLD age is the test of life. It is the harvest of 
all the life's sowing. In its evening shadows 
the deeds of all the past years appear at their real 
value. All life's memories gather about the old 
man's last days, and make either sweetness or bit- 
terness for him. It is a great thing to be able to 
stand up in old age, and face all one's past without 
a blush, and challenge every one to witness if any- 
thing wrong is known. 

Nothing but well-watched years all along life's 
way can yield such a happy consciousness in old 
age. We must begin in early youth to grow old — 
that is, to grow into the beauty and sweetness which 
we all want to have in our character when we be- 
come old. If we would be able to face our own 
past without blushing when we reach seventy years, 
we must not do anything during the seventy years 
that we shall be ashamed to face. If we would be 
able to challenge the scrutiny of the world, turning 
the light on every chapter of our life, every page 
and line, we must be careful that we leave nothing 
behind us as we go on which any one can bring up 
against us. It was because that from a child Sam- 
uel had served God, and had been exemplary in his 
conduct, honest, faithful, and upright in all his deal- 
ings, that he could now so confidently appeal to his 
record, 

(272) 



September 2,9. 

They said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed 
us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man's hand. 
— i Samuel xii. 4. 

IT is a noble testimony to the purity and noble- 
ness of a man's life, that in his old age not a 
voice can utter a word of complaint against him. 
Especially is it so when a man has lived all his 
days in public, in the eyes of his neighbors, charged 
with sacred trusts. The life of Jesus was thus un- 
blamable. Even his enemies, searching with all 
the keenness of their wicked malice, could find not 
the slightest thing with which to accuse him. 

The aim of every one of us should be to live so 
that when we come to the close of our days no one 
can lay any wrong or injury to our charge. It is a 
sweet joy in our last hours to have others say to us 
with unanimous voice, " You have never done any- 
thing to harm us. You have never treated us un- 
kindly. You never robbed us of any right. You 
have been only and always kind to us. You have 
comforted our sorrows. You have encouraged us 
in our toils, tasks, and trials. You have helped us 
in all ways, generously, unselfishly, thoughtfully. 
You have done us nothing but good." To have 
such a testimony at the last, one must begin early 
to live an upright, helpful life, and must never 
allow his hand to slacken until it is folded on his 
bosom in its final rest. 



073) 



September 30. 

Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin 
against the Lord in ceasing to pray for yon : but I will 
instruct you in the good and the right way. — i Sam- 
uel xii. 23. 

TT7E sin against our friend when we do not pray 
V V for him. Of all the ways of doing good 
and showing kindness to others, prayer is the best. 
Sometimes we catch ourselves saying to one who is 
in sore trouble : " I am sorry I cannot do anything 
to help you ; I can only pray for you.'' But if we 
really pray for him, we do the very best that we 
could possibly do. God knows better how to help 
him than we do. Ofttimes the help we would give 
would only harm him. We would lift away burdens 
he would better carry longer. We would make easy 
the path which would better be left rough. We are 
always in danger of hindering God's work in a 
man's life when we come in with our help. The 
best we can do is to pray for him. 

" Yes, pray for whom thou lovest; if uncounted wealth were 
thine, 
The treasures of the boundless deep, the riches of the mine, 
Thou couldst not to thy cherished friend a gift so dear im- 
part, 
As the earnest benediction of a deeply prayerful heart. 

Yes, pray for whom thou lovest; thou mayst vainly, idly seek 
The fervid thoughts of tenderness by feeble words to speak. 
Go, kneel before thy Father's throne, and meekly, humbly 

there 
Ask blessing for thy loved one in the silent hour of prayer." 

(274) 



October 1. 

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God : 
when shall I come and appear before God .? — Psalm 
xlii. 2. 

ONE may have everything else — riches, honor, 
human friends, social rank, health, home joys, 
but if he has not God, all these things fail to make 
him truly and deeply blessed. On the other hand, 
if we have God we are blessed, though we have 
nothing else. 

A gentleman came home from business heavy- 
hearted. Disaster had overtaken him. Throwing 
himself into a chair, he said, " Everything is gone. 
We are beggared. There is nothing left." His 
little child, seeing his distress and hearing his 
words, climbed up on his knee, and said, " Why, 
papa, you have mamma and me left/' Yes ; while 
such human love remained, was he not still rich ? 
Still more, if everything else is taken, and God and 
his love remain, are we not rich ? Mrs. Browning 
has put this thought in a beautiful sonnet : — 

If I could find 

No love in all the world for comforting, 

Nor any path but hollowly did ring, 
Where " Dust to dust " the love from life disjoined; 

And if, before those sepulchres unmoving, 
I stood alone (as some forsaken lamb 

Goes bleating up the moor in weary dearth), 

Crying " Where are ye, O my loved and loving? " — 
I know a Voice would sound: " Daughter, I am ! 

Can I suffice for heaven and not for earth ?" 

075) 



October 2. 

Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, 
it abideth by itself alone. — St. John xii. 24. 

JESUS was a very wise teacher. He did not use 
fine illustrations which the common people 
would not understand, but took those whose mean- 
ing would be plain to them. He pointed to the 
lilies, to the birds, to leaves, to vines, to the hen 
and her chickens, and other familiar things. 

The illustration here from nature is very simple. 
The farmer who would keep his wheat in the dry, 
safe granary, because if it were sown in 4he field it 
would rot and die, would make a very foolish mis- 
take. The only proper thing to do with the grain 
which the farmer wishes to preserve and take care 
of in the best way, is to sow it in the ground. True, 
that seems to be wasting it, losing it, throwing it 
away. But it is thus it is made to increase. It has 
to die to live. This is the law of life. 

Our Lord meant here that the only way for him 
to be glorified was by giving his life. He could 
have saved himself from his cross ; his sacrifice 
was voluntary. But suppose he had saved himself, 
what would have been the result ? He would have 
missed the suffering ; but souls would not have been 
saved, no church would now be praising his name. 
But in dying he made blessing for a world. From 
the one precious seed let fall into the ground on 
Calvary, has sprung a glorious harvest, whose full 
fruitage will not be known until all the redeemed 
are gathered home. 

(276) 



October S. 

The words that I have spoken unto you, are spirit, 
and are life. — St. John vi. 63. 

GOD'S own life is in the words of Scripture. 
Put a handful of flower-seeds in your window- 
box, under the sunshine, and they will soon become 
lovely flowers. Put the truths of the gospel into a 
human heart, and soon the life will begin to grow 
into the beauty of Christ. Its effects will be seen 
in the disposition, in the character, in the conduct, 
in all the daily acts. 

At an auction, a rude jar of common earthenware 
was bought by a seller of perfumes for a penny. 
But he filled it with attar of roses, and soon every 
particle of the substance of the jar had partaken 
of the sweetness. The fragrance within it had per- 
meated it. Long, long afterward, when emptied 
and broken, every smallest fragment was still sweet 
with the precious perfume. 

So it is, when even the most common life is filled 
with the word of Christ. It flows out, as it were, in 
the character, in the feelings and affections, in the 
thoughts and desires, in the tempers and disposi- 
tions, until the whole being is permeated, filled with 
the spirit of Christ. For where the word of Christ 
dwells the Holy Spirit dwells, and where the Holy 
Spirit dwells is the kingdom of heaven, heaven be- 
gun in a human life. We see the effects of this 
indwelling in the gentleness, the sweetness, the 
purity of heart, the truth, the patience, the love, 
which the word of Christ always produces. 

( 2 77) 



October 4. 

I came that they may have life, a?id may have it 
abundantly. — St. John x. io. 

TO have abundant life, we must use the life we 
have. If the child would have his puny arm 
grow into strength, he must exercise it. The smith 
wields his hammer, and his muscles become like 
withes of iron. If you would have your brain de- 
velop into mental strength, you must use it. It is 
so of every faculty and function of the life. If you 
would have your power of sympathy grow, until 
you are able to be a true helper and comforter of 
others, you must find expression for your sympathy. 
If you would become a true helper begin in little 
ways. Every outgoing of love in true service makes 
our love itself more abundant. 

Begin with the little life you have, accept every 
opportunity to use it, and by and by you will reach 
a capacity for helpfulness and service which will 
amaze you. But sit down and do nothing, put 
forth no effort, and your little life will dry up and 
shrivel to a crisp. " If the stars did not move," 
said Horace Bushnell, " they might rot in the sky. " 
The curse on thousands of Christian lives is inac- 
tivity. Do not use your hand — tie it up on your 
breast — for a few months, and it will wither to 
death. The same is true of all physical, mental, 
and moral powers ; unused they will die. If you 
would have abundant life, use every particle of the 
life you have, and it wall develop until it reaches 
fulness of power. 

( 27 8) 



October 5. 

A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where 
he was : and when he saw him, he was moved with 
compassion. — St. Luke x. $3. 

" f~\ LORD, advertise thy love through us ! " 
V_y was the prayer of an earnest Christian. A 
young Christian, when asked if she loved Jesus, 
was moved to tears, saying in her heart, "What a 
dim light mine must be, if others are not sure that 
I love Jesus ! " A Christian writer has recently 
said that the deadliest heresy is to be unloving. 

God advertised his love through the good Sa- 
maritan. Others needed not to ask him if he loved 
God. He was not guilty of the deadly heresy of 
being unloving. He had true compassion. He 
was not content merely to say a few pitying words. 
His sympathy took the practical form of doing 
something. He bound up the man's wounds — 
that was help of the best kind. He stopped the 
bleeding away of the sufferer's life. He rested not 
until he had him safe in a warm shelter. 

He did not even content himself with getting the 
man into an inn, then throwing off further respon- 
sibility. He might have said, " I have done my 
share; let some other one look after him now." 
But he was in no hurry to get the case off his 
hands. He took care of the man for a time, and 
then provided for the continuation of the care as 
long as it should be needed. The good Samaritan 
is Christ's own picture of what Christian love should 
be in every one of his disciples. 

( 2 79) 



October 6. 
Jesus weft. — St. John xi. 35. 

THIS is the shortest verse in all the Bible, but 
it is rich in meaning. It is a great window 
in Christ's bosom, showing us his very heart. It 
tells us that our Saviour, though so glorious, is 
touched by our griefs. He is the same now in 
heaven that he was that day when Mary lay at his 
feet and he wept with her. He is with us in all 
our sorrows, and sympathizes with us. This alone 
is a wonderful comfort to those who are in trouble. 
A little child visited a neighbor who had lost her 
baby, and came home and told her mother that she 
had been comforting the sorrowing woman. Her 
mother asked her how bhe had done it. and she 
said. " I cried with her.'' It does us good when 
we are in trouble to know that some other one 
sympathizes with us. It brings us a sense of 
companionship in our loneliness. It puts another 
shoulder under our load. But when it is Jesus who 
cares and is touched, weeps with us. comes up be- 
side us in gentle companionship, it is wondrous 
comfort indeed. 

" Dear Lord, my heart hath not a doubt 
But thou dost compass me about 
With sympathy divine. 

The love for me once crucified 
Is not a love to leave my side, 

But waiteth ever to divide 

Each smallest care of mine." 

(2S0) 



October 7. 

And he took him by the right hand, and raised him 
up : and immediately his feet and his anklebones re- 
ceived strength. — Acts iii. 7. 

A LADY was asked for her ideal of happiness 
and gave this answer : " My ideal of happi- 
ness is the helping of somebody up." This has the 
ring of that word of the Master's in which he said 
he came, " not to be ministered unto, but to min- 
ister." At first thought most people would look 
for their ideal of happiness in some possible good 
or favor to be received by themselves. . But this 
lady was right. There is more real happiness in 
helping somebody up than in the receiving of the 
largest benefits for ourselves. This glimpse of 
ideal happiness shows how near the desired bless- 
ing lies all the while to every one of us. There is 
not a day nor an hour, when we cannot be helping 
somebody up. 

In many climes without avail, 
Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy Grail; 
Behold, it is here, — this cup which thou 
Didst fill at the streamlet for me but now; 
This crust is my body broken for thee; 
This water His blood that died on the tree ; 
The Holy Supper is kept indeed, 
In whatso we share with another's need; 
Not what we give, but what we share, — 
For the gift without the giver is bare; 
Who gives himself with his alms, feeds three — 
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me." 
J. R. Lowell. 

(28O 



October 8. 

Rejoice with them that rejoice ; weep with them that 
weep. — Romans xii. 15. 

STRANGE as it may seem, it is easier to weep 
with those who weep than it is to rejoice with 
those who rejoice. There is something in sorrow 
that makes its resistless appeal to every heart, touch- 
ing it with tenderness, and calling out sympathetic 
expressions. Suffering in another disarms all un- 
kindly feeling, and bids a truce, for the time at 
least, to all bitterness, jealousy, and resentment. 
We weep even with our enemy whom we find in 
pain or sorrow. No one is ever envious of an- 
other's grief. 

But when we see others rejoicing, it is not so ac- 
cording to nature to rejoice with them. The mood 
of gladness is not so sure to find sympathetic chords 
in the hearts of others. There are those who are 
envious of the happiness of others, and are made 
even more miserable by their joy. This surely is 
a most undivine spirit, and yet none can deny its 
existence in many hearts. 

Gladness in others makes no such appeal to a 
heart as sorrow does. It does not need help. Yet 
we should mark well the lesson — that it is as much 
our duty to rejoice with those who rejoice, as it is 
to weep with those who weep. It is a close test of 
character — this being able to be glad because our 
friend is prosperous, even though at the time we do 
not have prosperity ourselves. It shows a whole- 
some spiritual condition. 

(282) 



October 9. 

Tribulation worketh patierice ; and patience, proba- 
tion. — Romans v. 3, 4. 

AT first we would say that a home into which no 
JTjL sorrow had ever come is the happiest home. 
It has had only prosperity. It is a Christian home, 
too, and has all the blessings of religion. It is a 
home of love — ideal in its fellowship. But it has 
never known a sorrow. The circle is unbroken. 
No tears have been shed in it. We would say that 
this is the happiest home we know. 

But it takes sorrow to perfect love's happiness. 
There is little doubt that the sweetest home is one 
in which there has been grief. We do not find the 
richest things in the Bible until we pass into shad- 
ows. We do not see the stars until night comes. 
There is no rainbow save when there are clouds. 
We do not find out the richest love even of our 
human friends while we are strong and well and 
prosperous; it is only when we are in some grief or 
trouble that we discover how much they love us. 
And we do not get the best of God's grace until 
we are in sorrow. 

Besides, grief softens our hearts, makes us capa-' 
ble of deeper affection and sympathy, and draws us 
nearer to each other. After a household has stood 
together around the coffin of one of its own, it is a 
new tenderness that unites the members. Suffering 
together brings a new closeness in loving. Thus, 
even sorrow may be put among the elements of 
home happiness. 

(283) 



October 10. 

Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, 
I stand unto this day, — Acts xxvi. 22. 

IT had been through nearly twenty-five years of 
hard, toilsome life that the heroic old apostle 
had stood, never giving up, never faltering in his 
confession. But he takes no praise to himself. 
The help came from God. 

Many young people are afraid to set out on a 
Christian life, fearing they will not be able to be 
true to the end. Here is the word for all such ; 
they will obtain help from God for every duty, for 
every struggle, for every sorrow, which they must 
endure. They need only to be faithful day by day, 
doing the day's duty, and trusting God for grace. 
The help will come silently, just as it is needed, 
always grace sufficient, so that they will ever be 
able to stand. 

God never puts a burden upon us without giving 
us the strength to carry it. The way to obtain help 
from him is to go promptly forward in the way of 
duty, asking for the help, and sure of getting it. It 
will not come if we wait to get it before we set out 
to obey. It will come only as we do God's will 
moment by moment. 

" A sacred burden is the life ye bear: 
Look on it, lift it, bear it solemnly; 
Stand up and walk beneath it steadfastly; 
Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin, 
But onward, upward, till the goal ye win. ,, 

(284) 



October 11. 

That ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the 
day of Christ, — Philippians i. 10. 

SINCERE means without wax. Many people in 
Rome's palmy, days lived in fine marble pal- 
aces. Sometimes a dishonest workman, when there 
was a piece chipped off a stone, would fill in the 
chink with a kind of cement called wax, an imita- 
tion of marble. For a time the deception would 
not be discovered, but after a while the wax would 
become discolored, thus revealing the defect. It 
became necessary to put in contracts a clause stat- 
ing that the work should be sine cera, without wax. 
This is the origin of the word sincere. It means 
that the life thus described is true through and 
through. It makes no pretensions. It has noth- 
ing to hide. 

Insincerity in any form mars the beauty of life. 
Unreal professions of friendship are to be guarded 
against. So are over-statements of religious ex- 
perience. We remember in what scathing words 
our Lord denounced hypocrisy. This was the only 
sin of which he did not speak with pity and com- 
passion. So in many parts of the Scripture we 
are cautioned against insincerity. We are to have 
faith unfeigned. We are to have unfeigned love 
of the brethren. We are to love without dissimu- 
lation. Few things do more harm to the cause of 
Christ than insincerity in those who profess to be 
his friends. Sincerity gives influence and power 
to life. 

(285) 



October 12. 

Bless the Lord, O my soul ; and all that is within 
me, bless his holy name, — Psalm ciii. i. 

EVERY part of our being should join in praising 
God. The song of praise we sing should not 
be a solo, or a duet, but a full chorus — the feel- 
ings, affections, mental powers, tastes, desires, all 
mingling in praise. 

There are some who praise with their voice, but 
not with their heart. Others give intellectual wor- 
ship, while their affections are not engaged. Others 
give emotional praise, but their will and conscience 
do not join heartily in the song ; they have good 
feelings, but lack in practical obedience. Some 
sing missionary hymns with zest, but give nothing 
to missionary work, or consecration hymns, and 
then live for themselves. The true way is to rouse 
every faculty, energy, power, and affection, to hearty, 
enthusiastic, practical praise, — all that is within 
us joining in glad and holy songfulness. 

Oh, the little birds sang east, 
And the little birds sang west; 
And I said in underbreath, — 
All our life is mixed with death, 
And who knoweth which is best? 

Oh, the little birds sang east, 
And the little birds sang west; 
And I smiled to think God's greatness 
Flowed around our incompleteness, — 
Round our restlessness, his rest. 

E. B. Browning. 

(286) 



October 13. 

Blessed is that man that niaketh the Lord his trust. 
— Psalm xl. 4. 

THAT is not what the world says. It calls the 
man blessed, or happy, who gets on in busi- 
ness, who prospers and grows rich, or who rises to 
power. It is along the paths to these places of dis- 
tinction that the racers throng. There is no scram- 
ble for the honors of sainthood. Not many people 
envy the heroes of Christian faith. Yet as the 
angels see this world, its highest seats are filled by 
God's believing ones. If we study the beatitudes, 
we shall learn who are really " blessed." If we 
trace the word " blessed " through the Bible, we see 
who come within the radiant circle. 

The man that maketh the Lord his trust is 
blessed. Why? He has been lifted out of the 
horrible pit. His feet are on a rock that cannot 
be shaken. He has a joy that nothing ever can 
break. His trust is one that no storm or flood, no 
financial panic, no bank failure, no defalcation, no 
fire, no political defeat, can ever disturb. 

Is it not worth while to have such a secure 
blessedness ? No other trust is absolutely safe, 
even in this life. Then what about the day of 
death, and the judgment that comes after, and the 
eternity ? We cannot leave out these stupendous 
events when estimating what is best. It is not hard 
to prove that none are really blessed sive those 
whose trust is stayed on God. The question, how- 
ever, is. Where is your trust ? Are you among the 
blessed ? ( 2 g 7 ) 



October 14. 

A good ?iame is rather to be chosen than great ?'iches, 
and loving favor rather than silver a?id gold. — 
Proverbs xxii. i. 

WE cannot be too careful of our good name. 
Many things, perhaps not morally wrong in 
themselves, when seen by other and uncharitable 
eyes may yet be construed to mean wrong-doing, 
and may thus hurt one's good name. There is 
need, too, of the most delicate moral sense in the 
regulation of conduct, and the most careful inter- 
pretation of duty, lest there be a lowering of tone 
which shall permit of acts not in accord with the 
perfect law of right. We cannot hold ourselves too 
strictly to " whatsoever things are true, whatsoever 
things are of good report." A name once tarnished 
never can be made altogether bright again. 

"The fleece that had been by the dyer stained 
Never again its native whiteness gained." 



How beautiful it is to be alive ! 
To wake each morn as if the Maker's grace 
Did us afresh from nothingness derive, 
That we might sing, How happy is our case, 
How beautiful it is to be alive ! 

Thus ever, towards man's height of nobleness 
Striving some new progression to contrive; 
Till, just as any other friend's, we press 
Death's hand; and having died feel none the less, 
How beautiful it is to be alive. 

H. S. Sutton. 

(288) 



October 15. 

Turn you at my reproof : behold, I will pour out 
my spirit unto you, I will make know?i my words unto 
you. — Proverbs i. 23. 

AFTER repenting comes new divine anointing. 
±\_ The Holy Spirit will not enter or stay in a 
heart that is cherishing sin. But when we turn 
away from the wrong things, the Spirit will come 
and live in us. 

There is a great deal in the Bible about the con- 
ditions on which divine things are revealed. "The 
secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." 
These words promise a very sweet confiding — even 
God tells the secret things of his heart to his chil- 
dren. The condition is, " with them that fear him/' 
that is, reverence, honor, love, and obey him. We 
have an illustration of this in God's dealing with 
Abraham. "The Lord said, Shall I hide from 
Abraham that which I do ? " Abraham was the 
"friend of God/' and the secret of the Lord was 
confided to him. 

In our Lord's parting words to his disciples we 
have the same truth : " No longer do I call you 
servants : for the servant knoweth not what his lord 
doeth ; but I have called you friends ; for all things 
that I heard from my Father I have made known 
unto you." 

Again we have the condition of this confidence : 
"Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I 
command you." If we would know divine things, 
we must submit ourselves to divine guidance. 

(289) 



October 16. 

What seest thou ? — Zechariah iv. 2. 

THE world is full of lovely things which only a 
few people can see. A lady was looking 
with Turner at some of his great pictures. " Why, 
Mr. Turner," said the lady, "I cannot see those 
things in nature." — " Don't you wish you could, 
madam ? " asked the artist. Many people have 
eyes, yet see nothing lovely in all the splendors of 
earth, or sky, or sea. Well would it be if by the 
side of every one an angel walked, saying continu- 
ally, at every turn, " What seest thou ? " The world 
is full of visions of loveliness for every one who 
can see. Says Alice Cary : — 

Thy works, O Lord, interpret thee, 
And through them all thy love is shown; 
Flowing about us like a sea, 
Yet steadfast as the eternal throne. 

Out of the light that runneth through 
Thy hand, the lily's dress is spun; 
Thine is the brightness of the dew, 
And thine the glory of the sun. 

Then in the Bible, too, there are wonderful things 
on every page. Here, again, we should train our- 
selves to ask, as our eyes fall on verse after verse, 
"What seest thou?" If we had this habit well 
formed, we should be ever coming upon new things. 
Visions of divine loveliness would rise up continu- 
ally before us, with their heavenly teachings, and 
their inspirations toward loftier, nobler life. 

(290) 



October 17. 

For surely there is a reward ; and thy hope shall 
not be cut off. — Proverbs xxiii. 18. 

WHAT you see of the brilliance, the dash, and 
the pleasure of sin, is only a cheat. Wait 
till the end comes. " Sin, when it is finished, bring- 
eth forth death." For a while a wicked man may 
seem to prosper in his sin ; but there is a hereafter, 
and sin will surely bring its harvest of curse and 
death at last. Indeed, if we could see all, we should 
find that even day by day the fruits of a good life 
are far sweeter than those of sin. No godly young 
man would envy his gay neighbor, if he could follow 
him from his dissipation and revelling and see 
the sickening sequel. 

" Sorrow follows wrong, 
As echo follows song." 

The peace which comes to the heart of him who 
lives after God's laws is a thousand times better 
than the remorse which is the portion of the sinner. 
There would be no envy if a Christian young man 
could set the two lives side by side, and see them in 
fair, honest light. One young man was placed in 
unfortunate circumstances. Nearly all the young 
men he knew drank. Would he go with them ? 
He took a philosophical look at the older men 
about him, and saw what drink had done for those 
who had formed the drinking habit in their youth. 
Then he looked at the men who had refused to 
learn to drink. He made his choice. " Surely 
there is a reward." 

(291) 



October 18. 

Their delectable things shall not profit. — Isaiah 
xliv. 9. 

" TAELECTABLE things," are the things in which 
\J they took delight, — that is, their idols. 
They bestowed honor upon them, prayed to them, 
looked to them as gods. But these delectable things 
could do nothing for them. We have it all in the 
old psalm : — 

Their idols are silver and gold, 

The work of men's hands; 

They have mouths, but they speak not; 

Eyes have they, but they see not; 

They have ears, but they hear not; 

Noses have they, but they smell not; 

They have hands, but they handle not; 

Feet have they, but they walk not; 

Neither speak they through their throat. 

These idols could give no comfort in sorrow, no' 
strength in weakness, no deliverance in danger. 
Suppose you were an idol-worshiper, and had in 
your house a beautiful god of gold. Then suppose 
there was death in your family, or some other 
trouble, in which you needed help that no human 
friend could give you ; what could your idol do for 
you? 

No better than these idols are other worldly 
trusts which men have — their money, for instance. 
Suppose there is sorrow in a home of wealth, filled 
with works of art and with fine furniture, and with- 
out Christ ; what comfort can these delectable things 
give? 

(292) 



October 19. 

Even to-day is my complaifit rebellions : my stroke is 
heavier than my groaning. — Job xxiii. 2. 

JOB does not mean that he was rebellious, but 
that even with his submission to the divine 
will, he could hardly keep his pain from breaking 
out in cries. If we are God's children we should 
bear even the greatest sufferings without complain- 
ing. It may not always be possible to repress the 
outcries of anguish ; but even if our complaint is too 
full of pain to be altogether repressed, we should 
not have in our heart any rebellious feeling toward 
God. 

An English writer tells of two birds, and how they 
acted when put into a cage. One flew violently 
against the wires of its prison, in unavailing efforts 
to escape, only bruising its own breast and wings 
in the struggle. The other perched itself on the 
bar, and began to pour forth from its little throat 
bursts of sweet song. We know well which bird 
was the wiser, which had learned the truer way to 
meet hard conditions. 

Some people are like the starling ; when they are 
in trouble they chafe, cry out, and complain. The 
result is, they only hurt themselves, make them- 
selves more miserable, and do not in any sense 
lessen their trouble. It is wiser always, as well as 
more pleasing to God, for us to bear our trials 
patiently, singing songs of faith, rather than crying 
in pain and discontent. Thus we take the bitter- 
ness out of trial, making it sweet. 

( 2 93) 



October 20. 

The childre?i of me?i take refuge imder the shadow of 
thy wings. — Psalm xxxvi. 7, 

UNDER God's wings is a blessed shelter into 
which to flee when the world is cold. It is 
a warm place into which to creep when the heart 
is smitten with sorrows. It is when we are troubled 
that we find these wings the softest. We call sor- 
row a shadow, and we talk about the shadow falling 
upon us and deepening until sometimes all the 
light is obscured. Have you ever thought that it 
is the shadow of God's wings that makes this dark- 
ness ? It does not seem love's shadow — it seems 
unkindness. But really it is love. God is never so 
close to us as when we are in deepest sorrow. 

As feeble babes that suffer, 

Toss and cry and will not rest, 
Are the ones the tender mother 

Holds the closest, loves the best; 
So when we are weak and wretched, 

By our sins weighed down, distressed, 
Then it is that God's great patience 

Holds us closest, loves us best. 

Oh, great heart of God ! whose loving 

Cannot hindered be nor crossed, 
Will not weary, will not even 

In our death itself be lost; 
Love divine ! of such great loving 

Only mothers know the cost — 
Cost of love, which, all love passing, 

Gave a Son to save the lost. 

Saxe Holm. 

(294) 



October 21. 

Let another man praise thee, and not thine own 
mouth ; a stranger, and not thine own lips. — Prov- 
erbs xxvii. 2. 

WE would better not permit ourselves to talk 
about ourselves. People do not want to hear 
about you from your own lips. Though your good 
deeds, your greatness, or your fine attainments do 
not become known, what does it matter ? God 
knows about them, and that is enough. One says 
wisely, " Think as little as possible about any good 
in yourself ; turn your eyes resolutely from any view 
of your acquirements, your influence, your plans, 
your success, your following — above all, speak as 
little as possible about yourself. The inordinate- 
ness of our self-love makes speech about ourselves 
like the putting of a lighted torch to the dry wood 
which has been laid in order for burning. Nothing 
but duty should open our lips upon this dangerous 
theme, except it be in humble confession of our sin- 
fulness before God." 

I who hear with secret shame, 
Praise that paineth more than blame, 
Rich alone in favors lent, 
Virtuous by accident, 
Doubtful where I fain would rest, 
Frailest where I seem the best, 
Only strong for lack of test, — 
What am I, that I should press 
Special pleas of selfishness, 
Coolly mounting into heaven 
On my neighbor unforgiven? 

J. G. Whittier. 

( 2 95) 



October 22. 

If thou seest the oppression of the poor . . . one 
higher than the high regardeth. — Ecclesiastes v. 8. 

IT is a comfort in a world where so many things 
continually go wrong, to know that God regards 
his people, and that he will surely in some way 
bring justice out of injustice, good out of wrong. 
He is always on the side of the oppressed, of the 
weak, of those whom the strong would crush. We 
naturally pity any person whom we see treated un- 
fairly by others. Our hearts cry out against the 
injustice, and yet we may be powerless to do any- 
thing to set it right. Our comfort, however, is that 
God sees all this wrong, and not only sees, but 
cares, and in his own time and way will vindicate 
the cause of those who are made the victims of the 
cruelty of the strong. We may safely leave in his 
hands the adjustment of the equities. 

The vindication may not come in this world, but 
the end of events is not here. Said Anne of Aus- 
tria, Queen of France, to her bitter enemy, Cardi- 
nal Richelieu, " My Lord Cardinal, there is one fact 
that you seem to have entirely forgotten — God is 
a sure paymaster. He may not pay at the end of 
every week or month or year, but I charge you to 
remember that he pays in the end." One of -the 
strongest arguments for a future life is in this fact, 
that in the present world full justice cannot always 
be had. It takes an after-life to right earth's 
wrongs. But we may be sure that they will all be 
righted in the end. 

(296) 



October 23. 

The soul of the people was much discouraged because 
of the way. — Numbers xxi. 4. 

THERE are a great many discouraged people in 
the world. They have lost heart, and when 
one has lost heart, life is very hard ; the wheels roll 
heavily. No doubt there are things in every one's 
path that are discouraging. There are hardships 
to endure. There are disappointments to suffer. 
Hope fades out like the picture of the mirage, as 
we hasten on to grasp them. We come up to the 
very edge of brilliant expectations, when suddenly 
our path is turned away backward. There are hos- 
tile enemies, too, besetting all the way. No wonder 
we are discouraged sometimes, if we look no higher 
than the road at our feet. 

Some of the reasons why a Christian should not 
be discouraged by any hardness in the way are, be- 
cause it is God's way, and he leads ; and because 
the way leads to heaven, and we should be willing 
to endure any hardships to reach such blessedness 
as there waits for us. 

Hand in hand with angels, 

Through the world we go; 
Brighter eyes are on us 

Than we blind ones know; 
Tenderer voices cheer us 

Than we deaf will own; 
Never, walking heavenward, 

Can we walk alone. 

Lucy Larcom. 

(297) 



October 24. 

For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but 
the Lord will take me up. — Psalm xxvii. i o. 

WE all know how much our father and mother 
love us. It seems to us there never could 
be a stronger love than theirs. No matter how 
wickedly a son may act, the love in his father's and 
mother's heart still continues tender and faithful. 
Though all the world turn him out-of-doors, the 
home door still stands open for him. But this word 
tells us that even if parental love is worn out, and 
parental patience exhausted, and the home door 
shut in one's face, there is still a place in God's 
heart and home for the outcast. This is the verse 
for the man or the woman who has gone down to 
the lowest depths of shame, till even his mother — 
if this be possible — has given him up and shut him 
out of her heart. God's love outlasts human love. 
Then this is the orphan's verse. When God re- 
moves father and mother, he himself takes up the 
child in special love and care. Very desolate is the 
world when both father and mother are gone. Life 
is never the same again. There is no place to go 
with the heart's hunger, and with the burden that is 
too heavy. Yet God remains, and in the loss of 
the human, there are first revealed, ofttimes, the 
warmth, tenderness, faithfulness, and help of the 
divine love. 

If you fear, 
Cast all your care on God: that anchor holds. 

Tennyson. 

(298) 



October 25. 

Concerning which salvation the prophets sought . . . 
which things angels desire to look into. — i Peter i. 

IO, 12. 

BOTH earth and heaven are intensely interested 
in the great redeeming work of Christ. There 
are wise men who are so busy in their researches 
into little earthly matters, that they cannot get time 
to study the things of the spiritual kingdom of God. 
But nothing in this world so merits the thought, 
study, and research of the wisest beings in the uni- 
verse as Christ's work of redemption. 

The interest of the angels in Christ's suffering as 
the Redeemer is very beautiful. There is a picture 
by Domenichino which represents the scene on Cal- 
vary, on the evening after the Saviour's body had 
been taken down and laid in the grave. The cross 
is empty. An angel stands beside the crown of 
thorns which lies there, feeling with the point of his 
finger one of its sharp points. His face wears a 
look of wonder. He is trying to find out the mean- 
ing of suffering, but he cannot understand it nor 
fathom its depth. 

The artist's thought is, that to this angel the suf- 
ferings of Christ were a great mystery which he was 
trying to comprehend. The same thought is sug- 
gested in the words, " which things the angels desire 
to look into." Surely it is worth while to give 
thought and attention to the wonderful things of 
Christ's redemption, since even the angels find in 
them mystery worthy of their deepest study. 

( 2 99) 



October 26. 

Peace I leave with you ; my peace I give unto you. 
— St. John xiv. 27. 

TWO artists went out to paint each a picture 
of peace. One painted a silvery lake em- 
bosomed deep amid the hills, where no storm could 
ever touch it — calm, sweet, quiet in its shelter. 
The other painted a wild sea, swept by tempests, 
strewn with wrecks, but rising out of the sea a 
great rock, and in the rock, high up, a cleft, with 
herbage and flowers amid which, on her nest, a. 
dove was sitting. The latter is the true picture of 
Christian peace. 

Anybody can be confident when there is nothing 
to disturb, no danger, no storm. Anybody can be 
happy when there is no trouble, nothing to hurt or 
vex. Anybody can be patient when there is noth- 
ing to make one impatient. Any little lake can be 
smooth and glassy when there is no wind to ruffle 
it, or when it is hidden away within a wall of moun- 
tains. But we want a religion which will help us 
to have peace when the sorest trials are upon us. 
How can we get this peace ? Only by hiding in 
Christ. 

" There is a point of rest 

At the great centre of the cyclone's force, 
A silence at its secret source; 
A little child might slumber undisturbed, 
Without the ruffle of one fairy curl, 
In that strange, central calm, amid the mighty whirl." 

(3°°) 



October 27. 

I have learnea, i?i whatsoever state I atn, therein to 
be content, — Philippians iv. 1 1. 

CONTENTMENT depends upon the person, not 
upon his circumstances. One is content, liv- 
ing in the plainest way, with bare necessaries and 
no luxuries, working hard and enduring many trials. 
Another is discontented in a palace, with all the 
comforts, delicacies, and ease that money can pro- 
vide. The difference is in the hearts of the two 
persons. The former has in himself all the re- 
sources of contentment, and is not affected by 
changes in his circumstances. The latter depends 
entirely upon his circumstances for his content- 
ment, and therefore is affected by every vicissitude. 

O heart of mine, we shouldn't 

Worry so. 
What we have missed of calm we couldn't 

Have you know. 
What we've met of stormy pain 
And of sorrow's driving rain, 
We can better meet again 

If it blow. 

We have erred in that dark hour — 

We have known. 
When the tears fell from the shower 

All alone, 
Were not shine and shadow blent 
As the gracious Master meant? 
Let us temper our content 

With his own. 

James Whitcomb Riley. 

(3 01 ) 



October 28. 

What I do thou knowest not now ; but thou shalt 
understand hereafter. — St. John xiii. 7. 

AT this time Peter did not know why the Messiah 
±\_ he really needed was a Messiah with basin 
and towel. He was thinking of a Messiah with 
throne and crown and sceptre and earthly pomp. 
He did not understand it until after the blood of 
Calvary had been shed. Christ referred to these 
days by " hereafter." 

This saying of Christ, however, may be used in 
a much wider sense. There are a great many 
things he does which at the time we cannot under- 
stand ; yet in due time all of them will become 
clear. As they appear to us, while we are pass- 
ing through them, they are unfinished acts ; when 
the work is done it will appear beautiful. This is 
especially true of many providences in our lives. 
One time Jacob thought and said, " All these things 
are against me ; " but he lived to see that the very 
things he thought were against him were really all 
working together for his good. 

So it is always in the providences of God with 
his own people. "We know that all things work 
together for good to them that love God." The 
tapestry weavers do their work on the reverse side, 
looking at the ends and thrums, a mystery of tangle 
and confusion, but not seeing the beautiful picture 
they are making on the other side. So we are 
weaving our lives largely on the reverse side. We 
cannot see the Master's plan till afterward. 

(3 02 ) 



October 29. 

I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from 
me. And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient 
for thee. — 2 Corinthians xii. 8, 9. 

MANY prayers that seem to be unanswered are 
really answered. The blessing comes, but 
in a form we do not recognize. Instead of the very 
thing we sought, something better is given. The 
burden is not lifted away, but we are sustained 
beneath it. We are not spared the suffering, but 
in the suffering we are brought nearer to God, and 
receive more of his grace. The sorrow is not taken 
away, but is changed to joy. Our ignorant prayers 
are taken into the hands of the great Intercessor, 
and are answered in ways far wiser than our thought, 
— instead of earthly trifles, heavenly riches ; instead 
of things which our poor wisdom sought, things 
God's infinite wisdom chose for us; instead of pleas- 
ure for a day, gain for eternity. 

Sometime, when all life's lessons have been learned, 

And sun and stars forevermore have set, 
The things which our weak judgment here had spurned, 

The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet, 
Will flash before us out of life's dark night, 

As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue ; 
And we shall see how all God's plans are right, 

And how what seemed reproof was love most true ; 
And we shall see how, while we frown and sigh, 

God's plans go on as best for you and me; 
How when we called he heeded not our cry, 

Because his wisdom to the end could see. 

May Riley Smith. 

(303) 



October 30. 

Let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ. — Romans v. i. 

PEACE is a favorite word with St. Paul. His 
life was full of suffering, care, toil, and trial ; 
yet his epistles are starred all over with the bright 
word peace. He speaks of different kinds of peace. 
Here it is " peace with God." This means the 
consciousness of reconciliation with God. Sin sep- 
arates us from God. While the feeling of guilt is 
in the heart there is no peace. We cannot look 
into God's face. But when we have repented of 
our sins, and have confessed them, and received 
God's forgiveness through Jesus Christ, we have 
peace with God. 

St. Paul speaks elsewhere of "the peace of God." 
Writing from a prison, he exhorted his friends to 
be anxious for nothing, but to make all their cares 
known to God; and then, he said, the peace of 
God would keep their hearts and minds in Christ 
Jesus. This is a step farther than peace with God. 
It is the peace which holds the heart quiet and still 
in the midst of whatsoever things are hard and try- 
ing in this world. It comes from resting in God's 
love, and leaving all tangled things in his hands. 
Christ promised the same peace when he said, 
" Peace I leave with you ; my peace I give unto 
you." Peace is named as one of the fruits of the 
Spirit. It comes, therefore, through having the 
Holy Spirit in our heart, and is not an earthly 
attainment. 

(3°4) 



October 31. 

That he may incline our hearts imto him, to walk 
in all his ways. — i Kings viii. 58. 

WE must be obedient and faithful, else we for- 
feit the divine promises. We are " prone 
to wander" from God; our hearts are deceitful and 
incline to lead us away. Hence this prayer is a 
fit one to be always on our lips — that God may 
incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, 
to keep his commandments. We are charged to 
keep our heart with all diligence. The heart is the 
fountain of all motive and action, and therefore 
it must be under constant guard. We in our weak- 
ness cannot keep it ourselves, and hence the need 
of divine keeping. 

Fe'nelon's prayer was, " Lord take my heart, for 
I cannot give it to thee ; and when thou hast it, 
oh, keep it, for I cannot keep it for thee ; and save 
me in spite of myself, for Jesus Christ's sake. 
Amen." This is a good daily prayer for any of us. 
God will never compel us to be good and obedient ; 
but he will grant to us the grace of his Holy Spirit, 
if we ask for it, and will incline us, draw us, help 
us. We need, therefore, to pray continually to him 
to throw over us the mystic influence of his Spirit 
that we may seek to walk in God's ways. 

I thirst for springs of heavenly life, 

And here all day they rise ; 
I seek the treasure of thy love, 

And close at hand it lies. 

A. L. Waring. 

(305) 



November 1. 

Let ?wt the sun go dow?i upon you?' wrath. — Ephe- 
sians iv. 26. 

IT is well for us to have horizons which cut oil 
our life for the time, as if it were ended. These 
temporary endings keep us thoughtful and mindful 
of the final ending, after which will come no begin- 
ning again in this world. Evening puts an end 
to life's work for a season. We leave the plough 
standing in the furrrow, the hammer lying by the 
anvil, the axe resting against the root of the tree. 
We shut the door of the mill or office and go home. 
Our work is done for the day, and we may never 
take it up again. Every setting of the sun should 
therefore be a testing of life. Everything should 
be finished as if it were the ending of all. 

Especially should the hour of evening, when we 
bow at God's feet, be always a time for setting 
right all that may have gone wrong in us during 
the day. Then every feeling of bitterness should 
be cast out of our heart. Life is too critical for 
us to venture into any night's darkness and sleep, 
cherishing anger or envy. M Let not the sun go 
down upon your wrath " is a wise counsel. 

" Life is too short for hate — 

We mingle here but one brief day — 
Too brief for what we meant to say, 
When it is all too late. 

Life is too short for hate: 
The tree is green that soon shall wave 
Its leafy plumes above the grave 
In that relentless stale." 

(3°*) 



November 2. 

Paul said . . . Except these abide in the ship ye 
cannot be saved. — Acts xxvii. 31. 

THE sailors were needed to help save the lives 
of the passengers. Yet Paul had said before 
that there should be no loss of life. He had re- 
ceived this assurance from the angel of God. If 
it was God's purpose that no life should perish, why 
did Paul say that unless the seamen stood at their 
posts and continued to attend to their duties, the 
passengers could not be saved ? Was God's prom- 
ise dependent on a few heathen boatmen ? 

The divine assurance did not do away with the use 
of all proper means for securing deliverance. We 
are not to sit down and do nothing when we find a 
promise of God ; we are rather to do our whole duty, 
as if the fulfilment of the promise depended alto- 
gether upon us. There is no real conflict between 
the truths that God has a plan which extends to all 
things, and that men are free in their choice and 
responsible for their acts. Theology may find it im- 
possible to harmonize the two, but common-sense ac- 
cepts both, and does not worry about the harmonizing. 

It is clear that the working out of God's purposes 
depends upon human faithfulness to duty, and that 
God's purpose of deliverance for us may and will 
fail unless we do our part. There is no excuse, 
therefore, for inaction in the assurance that God 
plans for our good ; the plan will not be carried out 
unless we work it out for ourselves. Every divine 
purpose depends on human fidelity. 

(307) 



November 3. 

Casting- off the anchors, they left them in the sea, — 
Acts xxvii. 40. 

ANYTHING that hinders our getting to heaven 
. we should resolutely sacrifice. An illustra- 
tion of this is the flight of Cortez, on that fearful 
night when the Aztecs compelled the invaders to 
escape for their lives. The vast masses of gold 
that had been accumulated were more than could 
be carried away, as each soldier would have to fight 
his way through. The men were allowed to take 
what they would, but the commander warned them 
against overloading. " For," said he, " he travels 
safest in the dark night who travels lightest. " The 
more cautious men heeded the advice so given, but 
others were less self-restrained. Some bound heavy 
chains of gold about their neck and shoulders, some 
filled their wallets with the bulky ingots till they 
literally staggered under their burden. 

The experience of the conflict that ensued dem- 
onstrated the wisdom of the advice given by the 
commander, and the folly of those who failed to 
heed it ; for all such became an easy prey to the 
lances of the Aztecs. To save life all else had to 
be abandoned ; and that night poverty itself was 
the greatest riches. 

We ought to see whether there is anything keep- 
ing us away from Christ or hindering our faithful- 
ness and devotion ; and if we find that there is any- 
thing, no matter how dear it is to us, we should 
cut it off or cast it away. 

(308) 



November 4. 

He that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous 
also in much. — St. Luke xvi. 10. 

WE are apt to under-estimate little failures in 
duty. It seems to us a small matter that we 
do not keep an engagement, that we lose our tem- 
per and say an impatient or angry word, that we 
show an unkind or disobliging spirit, that we allow 
ourselves to speak uncharitably of another, that we 
treat some one with discourtesy, or fail in some 
other way that appears trivial. So long as we are 
honest, faithful, and loving in a larger way, we think 
it of small moment that we make little slips. 

But we never can tell what may be the conse- 
quences of failure in even the most minute duty. 
It hurts our own life. It leaves us a little weaker 
in our character, a little less able to resist the next 
temptation that comes at the same point. It breaks 
our habit of faithfulness, and makes it easier for us 
to break it a second time. We sin against ourselves 
when we relax our diligence or our faithfulness in 
even the least thing. Then we know not what the 
consequences to others will be when we fail in their 
presence. An outburst of temper in a Christian 
has been known to set back indefinitely the accept- 
ance of Christ by one who was trying to begin a 
Christian life. The failure of a Christian minister 
to pay a little debt to a man not a Christian but 
interested in religion, destroyed the minister's in- 
fluence over the man, and drove him back into the 
world. 

(3°9) 



November 5. 

Work not for the meat which perisheth, but for the 
meat which abideth unto eternal life. — St. John 
vi. 27. 

WE need to be continually reminded of the un- 
satisfying nature of the things of this world, 
and exhorted to seek the real things in life. We 
live in a material age, when the quest of men is for 
money, for power, for things of the earth. Bunyan 
gives a picture of a man with a muck-rake, working 
hard, scraping up the rubbish under his feet, not 
seeing the crown that hangs in the air above his 
head. It is a picture of the great majority of the 
people in this world. They are wearing out their 
life in gathering rubbish out of the dust, not think- 
ing of the heavenly treasures, the divine and im- 
perishable gifts, which they might have with half 
the toil and care. 

" Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking ; 

'Tis heaven alone that is given away, 

'Tis only God may be had for the asking." 

We ought not to spend our life in picking up 
things which we cannot carry beyond the grave. If 
we are wise we will seek rather to gather treasures 
and riches which we can take with us into eternity. 
Whatever we build into our character, we shall 
possess forever. Money which we spend in doing 
good, in Christ's name, we lay up as safe and se- 
cure treasure in heaven. All true service for Christ 
stores up rewards for us in the future. What we 
keep we lose ; what we give in love we keep. 

(3 IQ ) 



November 6. 

I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth 
thee will I curse. — Genesis xiL 3. 

IT is wonderful how God makes common cause 
with his people in this world. They represent 
him wherever they are, and the things that are done 
to them God regards as done to himself. It is a 
perilous thing to lift a hand against any of God's 
people, for he who does so lifts his hand against 
God. Christ says the same of his relation to his 
friends. To harm a Christian is to harm his Mas- 
ter. To neglect a suffering Christian is the same 
as if Christ himself were suffering and we neglected 
him. 

We need to beware that we never do injury of 
any kind to any of Christ's little ones. On the 
other hand, all kindness shown to a friend of Christ 
is shown as to Christ himself, and is rewarded ac- 
cordingly. Even the giving of a cup of cold water 
to a disciple of his, in his name, does not go with- 
out reward. Surely it is worth while to be a Chris- 
tian, to have such divine friendship, to have God 
on our side to defend us and to make common 
cause with us. 

The spirit's cry 
Is all for thee, O Lord unseen, 
To fill the need that hath not been 
By any human passion filled, 
By any human giving stilled; 
For thee, — for only thee, its cry, 
O Love supreme, to satisfy ! 

Mary Clemmer Ames, 

(3") 



November 7. 

I said, I will confess my transgressions anto the 
Lord ; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. — 
Psalm xxxii. 5. 

UNCONFESSED sins are unforgiven sins, and 
unforgiven sins make bitterness. It is writ- 
ten in the old psalm : — 

When I kept silence, my bones waxed old 

Through my roaring all the day long, 

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me : 

My moisture was changed as with the drought of summer. 

But the moment he made confession, back on the 
echo of his prayer of penitence came the assur- 
ance of pardon, — u I have sinned ; " " The Lord 
hath also put away thy sin." 

That is always the way. God loves to forgive. 
The instant he hears the voice of penitence he 
speaks the word of remission. So we learn the 
only way to get clear of our sins — we must put 
them out of our heart, by sincere and humble con- 
fession. Then they will trouble us no more forever. 

Some people try to flee from their sins, but they 
can never get away from them. Their sins are a 
part of themselves. Some people try to hide from 
God when they have sinned, but this also is a vain 
effort. Adam and Eve tried this, hiding in the 
garden after their transgression, when they heard 
the footsteps of God approaching. The only safe 
flight from sin and from God is to God. In his 
mercy there is secure and eternal refuge. 

(3 12 ) 



November 8. 

My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall be 
glad, even mine, — Proverbs xxiii. 15. 

EVERY true father is affectionately interested 
in the lives of his children. His own joy, in 
later years, depends largely upon the way they live. 
He is made very happy by seeing them make some- 
thing noble and worthy of their lives, and living 
honorably and righteously among men. 

Notice here, also, the place of the heart in the 
making of the life. We are never better than our 
own heart. If our heart be evil, full of wrong 
thoughts, dispositions, and tempers, our character 
cannot be lovely and winning. " Beautiful thoughts 
make a beautiful soul." As we think in our heart 
so we are. 

There is a thought here for parents. If they 
would have happiness in seeing their children live 
beautiful lives, they must do more than give them 
good and wise counsels. Solomon was splendid 
at advising. His words are full of wisdom. If 
followed faithfully they will build into a life what- 
soever things are true, whatsoever things are pure, 
whatsoever things are lovely. But we know how 
Solomon lived. It is little wonder that his son did 
not turn out well. Other parents need to guard 
against the same fatal mistake. No matter how 
well they may advise, if they do not themselves live 
godly lives, they will probably draw their children 
with them to ruin. They cannot by good advice 
overcome the force of bad example. 

(3*3) 



November 9. 

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art 
thou disquieted within me? — Psalm xlii. n. 

NO spirit is more fruitful of discomfort than that 
of habitual complaining. It makes misery in 
him who indulges it and in those who suffer from 
contact with it. The complaining man is never 
happy himself. Indeed, he strives not to be happy, 
since in whatever circumstances he finds himself 
he at once sets about trying to discover something 
unpleasant. Of course he never seeks in vain ; for 
people find in this world what they look for. It 
would not be so bad, if he made only himself 
miserable, but he succeeds also in imparting more 
or less of his wretchedness to all he meets. It is 
about as poor a use of one's immortal powers as 
one can find, to live to grumble and thus add to 
the unhappiness of others. 

O thou of dark forebodings drear, 
O thou of such a faithless heart, 
Hast thou forgotten what thou art, 

That thou hast ventured so to fear? 

No weed on ocean's bosom cast, 
Borne by its never-resting foam 
This way and that, without a home, 

Till flung on some bleak shore at last. 

But thou the lotus, which above, 

Swayed here and there by wind and tide, 
Yet still below doth fixed abide, — 

Fast rooted in the Eternal Love. 

R. C. Trench. 

(314) 



November 10. 

What can David say more unto thee ? for thou know- 
est thy servant, O Lord God. — 2 Samuel vii. 20. 

WHO has not felt in prayer the utter inadequacy 
of speech to express his heart's deep long- 
ings ? We try to tell God of our sorrow for sin, our 
hunger after righteousness ; but we can tell him 
only the merest fraction of what we feel. Words 
are never large enough for thought. No poet ever 
gets into his lines the whole of the vision of beauty 
which floats before his soul. No true orator ever 
finds sentences majestic enough to express the 
sentiments that burn in his breast. Deep, pure 
love is never able to put into language its most 
sacred feelings. It is only the commonplace of the 
inner life that can be interpreted in words. There 
is always more that lies back unexpressed than is 
uttered in speech. 

In one of St. Paul's epistles there is a wonderful 
word which shows how God understands our un- 
expressed prayers. "Unto him that is able to do 
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or 
think." God is able to answer prayer, not only 
beyond what we can express, but even beyond what 
we can think. He knows our deepest and most 
sacred feelings. Even the hungers of our heart, 
the longings of our soul, he understands. We need 
not fret because we cannot tell God all that we feel 
or desire. He reads all that is within our heart, 
and answers not our mere words, but our yearnings, 
our longings. 

(315) 



November 11. 

What tneaneth then this bleating of the sheep . . . 
which I hear ? — i Samuel xv. 14. 

SIN is hard to hide. We may think that we have 
covered up our disobediences so that detec- 
tion shall be impossible ; but suddenly something 
tears away the covering, and they are exposed to 
the gaze of the world. A man carries on a series 
of dishonesties through a series of years, and covers 
them up by expert bookkeeping, thinking he is 
safe. But some morning he is startled to find that 
the stolen sheep have been bleating, and the pur- 
loined oxen have been lowing, and all the world 
knows of his peculations or embezzlements. 

It is the nature of sheep to bleat and oxen to low, 
and they have not sense enough to keep quiet when 
they are expected to. Indeed, they are almost sure 
to make a noise and reveal their whereabouts just 
when they are depended on to keep perfectly still. 
It is the same with sin. It is a poor friend to a 
man. It professes well when it is offering its soli- 
citations, but when it has been committed it is a 
poor confidant. It cannot keep a secret. It is sure 
at some time to betray the man who depends upon 
it for prudent silence. 

In most of our lives there are some bleating sheep 
and lowing oxen, — faults, evil habits, blemishes of 
character, tendencies or idiosyncrasies, which tell 
the story of the imperfectness of our obedience, 
things which we would not want even our nearest 
friend to know. 

(316) 



November 12. 

I delight to do thy will. — Psalm xl. 8. 

THAT is consecration. All ambition should start 
and end there. Duty is simple obedience. 
The highest thing possible in this world for any- 
life is what God would make out of it. The Koran 
tells of the sending of Gabriel to the earth to keep 
Solomon from sinning ; at the same time he was 
bidden to help a little toiling ant that could not 
get home with its burden. And the mighty angel 
did both errands with equal alacrity and gladness. 
Nothing is small if it be God's will for us for the 
moment. Nothing is great, however brilliant in 
men's eyes, if it be not God's will. Here should 
be our life motto, " I delight to do thy will." 
Since Christ himself filled his life with such loving 
devotion to his Father's will, it should be our 
highest joy to do the same. 

" A lesson, Lord, those eighteen years to me; 
Not elsewhere could I so divinely learn 
That humble tasks are best, howe'er I yearn 

For higher sphere where I may work more free. 

Blest were those patient, toiling years to thee, 
Their secret kept within thy lonely heart, 
While thou wast trained by daily skill of art 

To build new world for human destiny. 

Thy Future was the Now. 'Twas from its height 
Thine eye read meanings in the passing day. 
If cross of death cast shadows on thy way, 

What sun was that so darkened in his light? 
O Nazarene, out of these toils there came 
That which we prize most dear, — a brother's name ! " 

(317) 



November 13. 

And the people were as murmurers, speaking evil in 
the ears of the Lord : and when the Lord heard it, his 
anger was kifidled. — Numbers xi. i. 

THERE are people who can speak of little else 
but the unpleasant things in their own experi- 
ence. If you ask them about their health, or even 
unfortunately put your salutation in the form of 
" How do you do ? " you get as an answer a descrip- 
tion of many ills and infirmities to which they 
are subject, instead of any cheerful reciprocating 
of your greeting. All their ordinary conversation 
is filled with dolorous rehearsals of discouraging 
things. They have keen eyes for the unpleasant 
happenings and never fail to mention them to 
others. 

We all have troubles — things in our daily per- 
sonal life that are vexing and annoying, sometimes 
things that are painful and burdensome. But we 
should not talk about them. We have no right to 
scatter our briers and thorns about us so that 
others' feet may be torn by them. It does us no 
good, and it does others immeasurable harm. 

Silence about ourselves should be a rule almost 
without exception. Especially should the rule never 
to complain be an absolute one. No matter how 
poorly we have rested through the night, we need 
not tell the whole family about it at breakfast. 
Patient bearing of the portion of life's ills that 
comes to us is the characteristic of ideal Christian 
faith. 

(3iS) 



November 14. 

And straightway he constrained the disciples to get 
into the ship. — St. Matthew xiv. 22. 

EVEN when Christ sends us out we may encoun- 
ter storms. It was so here ; the disciples were 
sent out by their Master, even constrained by him 
to go upon the sea, and yet a terrific storm arose. 
We must not expect that when we begin to obey 
Christ we shall have all favoring breezes. We 
must not conclude, whenever we find obstacles or 
hindrances in anything we have undertaken, that 
we are not doing right, and that these difficulties 
are providential indications that we ought not to 
proceed in the course. They are providential ; but 
they may have a different mission altogether — to 
inspire us to stronger faith and greater endeavor. 
Jesus sent his disciples out alone ; but in all 
their life they had few more profitable experiences, 
though the night was one of such terror. They 
knew their need of Christ after that experience 
better than ever before. Then they had a new 
revelation of Christ's power and glory which they 
never could have had if he had not stayed behind 
and then come to them on the waves. We do not 
see Christ's cross until we are left in the night of 
conviction. We can never understand the sweet- 
ness of the divine comfort if we never have sorrow. 
So it may be a blessing for us sometimes even to 
go alone a little way, to learn lessons we could 
never learn with Christ beside us. We can at least 
learn our need of him. 

(3*9) 



November 15. 

To obey is better than sacrifice, — i Samuel xv. 22. 

MANY people set a great deal more stress on 
religious ceremonials than upon practical 
obedience. They will be faithful in attendance 
upon church services, devout and reverent in wor- 
ship, and yet in their daily life they will disregard 
the plain commandments of God. They fill the 
week with selfishness, pride, bitterness, and evil- 
speaking, and then come on the Sabbath, with 
great show of devotion, to engage in the worship 
of God. 

But what God desires before our worship can be 
acceptable is that we do what he commands us. 
He bids us to love one another, to be unselfish, 
patient, kind, honest, pure, true ; and unless we 
obey these commands, the worship, no matter how 
conspicuous, how costly, how seemingly devout and 
reverent, is not acceptable. 

There are many other phases of the truth. It is 
exact obedience, and not something else of our 
own substituted, that God desires. When he tells 
a mother to care for her child, he is not satisfied if 
she neglect that duty to write a book or look after a 
sick woman. When God wants a man to help a 
poor family in some obscure street, he is not satisfied 
if instead of that lowly service the man does some 
brilliant thing that seems to bring ten times as 
much honor to the Lord. The supreme thing in 
Christian life is to obey God ; without obedience 
nothing else counts. The obedience must also be 
exact, just what God commands, not something else. 

(320) 



November 16. 

He put forth his hand, a?id took her, and brought 
her in unto him into the ark. — Genesis viii. 9. 

ONE night in a home by the sea, the family sat 
around the evening lamp. Within, all was 
peace ; without, however, the storm was wild. Rain 
and sleet beat against the windows. During the 
evening, one of the group heard a strange fluttering 
outside one of the windows. Making careful ex- 
amination, it was found that there was a little bird 
flapping its wings against the pane. It had been 
caught in the storm, and was unable to find shelter. 
The light in the window had attracted it, and there 
it was beating against the glass. Quickly the win- 
dow was opened, and the little thing flew in, drenched 
and faint, but happy and safe. Inside it found 
shelter, light, warmth, and food. 

Often there are lives among us like the bird — 
caught in earth's storms, swept by temptation, by 
sorrow, or by passion ; defeated, weary, with no 
shelter. For all such the only refuge is in the 
heart of God, under the shadow of the wings of 
divine love. There the weary spirit finds all it 
craves of refuge, love, warmth, joy, and satisfaction. 
Flying to the window of the divine ark, a strong, 
gentle hand draws it in. 

" Under the shadow of thy wing 

I'll make my refuge, till the cares and fears 
Of life are past : then through its tears 
For joy my soul shall sing." 

(321) 



November 17. 

Hannah went not up ; for she said unto her hus- 
band, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and 
then I will bring him. — i Samuel i. 22. 

JUST at this time her religious duties were at 
home. Her child required her attention, and 
she believed that she was worshiping God accept- 
ably in staying at Ramah and mothering her boy. 
No doubt she was right. A mother's first duties 
are to her children. No amount of public religious 
service will atone for neglect of her sacred home 
tasks. She may attend Dorcas meetings and mis- 
sionary services, do good work among the poor, 
and carry blessings to many a sorrowful home ; but 
if she fails meanwhile to look after her own chil- 
dren, she can scarcely claim to have been a suc- 
cessful worker. 

A mother's first duty is to bring up her children 
for God. Whatever she can do for others after that 
will be acceptable. Many things must be crowded 
out of every earnest life, things that are good and 
desirable in themselves. No one can do everything 
that needs to be done, and we must select the things 
we shall do. But it will be a sad thing if a mother 
allows the proper care of her own children to be 
crowded out of her life by the appeals on behalf of 
other people's children, the calls for public service 
however important, or the cries of any other human 
needs in the world. These outside duties may be 
hers in some measure, but the duties of the home 
are hers and no other's. 

(322) 



November 18. 

I am in a strait betwixt the two, having the desire 
to depart, and be with Christ ; for it is very far better : 
yet to abide in the flesh is more needful for your 
sake. — Philippians i. 23, 24. 

TWO desires draw upon our hearts if we are liv- 
ing in this world as citizens of heaven. The 
heavenly life woos us with its visions of bliss, its 
face to face with Christ, its tearless joy, its disin- 
thrallment, its realizations of holy hopes. At the 
same time, earth has its strong hold upon us. It is 
natural to want to live — any other desire in ordi- 
nary conditions is unwholesome. Human affections 
form a network of chains binding us to this life. 
So we are all held " betwixt the two." When one 
of the Cary sisters died, the other wrote : — 

Strange, strange for thee and me, 

Sadly afar; 
Thou safe beyond, above, 

I 'neath the star; 
Thou where flowers deathless spring, 

I where they fade; 
Thou in God's Paradise, 

I 'mid time's shade ! 

Thou in eternal peace, 

I 'mid earth's strife; 
Thou where care hath no name, 

I where 'tis life; 
Thou without need of hope, 

I where 'tis vain; 
Thou with wings dropping light, 

I with time's chain. 

(323) 



November 19; 

I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. — 
Acts xxvi. 19. 

DR. DODDRIDGE, in his life of Colonel Gardi- 
ner, describes the conversion of this soldier. 
He was waiting near midnight, the hour fixed for 
a sinful meeting with another, and was carelessly 
turning over the pages of a religious book, when 
suddenly he saw before him, vivid and clear, the 
form of the Redeemer on the cross, and heard him 
speak : " All this have I done for thee ; and is this 
thy return? " Like Paul, he was not disobedient to 
the heavenly vision, but from that moment turned 
and followed Christ. 

That is what every one of us should do ; when 
we see Christ and hear his voice, we should straight- 
way leave all and go after him. Not only at the 
beginning, but all the way through life God sends 
us visions to guide us. Every time we see in a 
verse of Scripture a glimpse of some beautiful thing 
commended, it is a heavenly vision given to lead us 
to the beauty it shows. 

Every fragment of loveliness we see in a human 
life is a heavenly vision sent to woo us upward. 
Wherever we see beauty which attracts us, and kin- 
dles in us desires and aspirations for higher attain- 
ments, it is a vision from God, whose mission is to 
call us to a higher life. We should make sure that 
we do not prove disobedient to any heavenly vision, 
but that we follow every one as an angel sent from 
heaven to woo us nearer God. 

^-0 



November 20. 

The fashio7i of his countenance was altered. — St. 
Luke ix. 29. 

ARTISTS put a halo about Christ's face in their 
._ pictures, but there was no visible halo on the 
face men saw as he walked about and did his 
works of love. Now, however, for a little while the 
glory broke through his flesh and the disciples saw 
it. It must have been an experience of great joy 
to Jesus. That mountain-top reached into heaven 
that night ; and he climbed up out of the mists 
and shadows and stood in his native glory for a 
little while, to be refreshed by the ministry of the 
heavenly visitants for his dark way of sorrow. 

An Alpine traveller tells of climbing one of the 
mountains in a dense, dripping fog, and standing at 
last in the clear air, under a cloudless sky. In the 
valley below him lay the fog like an ocean of white 
vapor, and he could hear the chiming of bells, the 
lowing of cattle, and the sounds of labor coming up 
from the villages that were hidden beneath. Now 
and then a bird would dart up out of the mist, fly 
about a little while in the joyous sunshine, sing a 
few notes of sweet song, and then fly down again 
and disappear. What this brief time of radiance 
was to the bird, the transfiguration was to our Lord. 
His earthly life was spent in the valley, beneath 
the clouds of suffering and sorrow ; now for once 
he climbed up above the mists into the glory of 
heaven, bathed his soul in its brightness, heard the 
converse of messengers from his home. 

(325) 



November 21. 

He entered and was passing through Jericho. — St. 
Luke xix. i. 

JESUS had never been in Jericho before, and he 
never came there again. He was now on his 
last journey, and in a few days he was dead. Hence 
this was the only chance the people there ever had 
of receiving blessings from him. If any sufferers 
neglected to seek for help just that one day, they 
never had another chance. 

Think what that passing hour was in the history 
of the old city. Some caught a blessing at Christ's 
hand as he went by, and they must ever after have 
remembered with gratitude the face that shone upon 
them and the eyes that looked into theirs. But 
there must have been many who did not seize the 
opportunity and were left unblessed. 

Christ is ever passing by. He may come again 
— he does continually come again ; but he is ever 
moving, and the blessing we would get from him 
at any time we must get as he passes. All the days 
seem alike as they come to us ; but each day comes 
with its own opportunities, its own calls to duty, its 
own privileges, holding out hands offering us radi- 
ant gifts. The day passes, and never comes again. 
Other days as bright may come, but that day never 
comes a second time. If we do not take just then 
the gifts it offers, we shall never have another 
chance to get them, and shall always be poorer for 
what we have missed. We need to be alert to take 
quickly from each day the blessing it brings. 

(326) 



November 22. 

What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life ? — 
St. Mark x. 17. 

ETERNAL life is the only thing worth living for. 
No matter how much pleasure, or how great 
success, or how high honor, one may gain in this 
world, if at the end of threescore years a man 
passes into eternity unsaved, of what comfort to 
him will it be to remember his pleasant life on this 
earth ? 

A rich man failed in business. When he had 
gathered together the fragments of his wrecked 
fortune he had in all a few thousand dollars. He 
determined to go to another part of the country to 
start again. He took all his money, and had built 
for himself a splendid car, furnishing it in the most 
luxurious style, and stocking it with provisions for 
his journey. In this sumptuous car he travelled to 
his destination. At length he stepped from the 
door of his rolling palace, and only then thought 
for the first time of his great folly. He had used 
the last cent of his money in getting in this mag- 
nificent way to his new home, and had nothing on 
which to begin life anew. 

This illustrates the folly of those who think only 
of this life, and make no provision for eternity. 
They use up all their time, their opportunities, their 
life's strength, in getting to the gate of the grave, 
and find themselves forced to begin eternity with 
nothing, no treasure laid up. The only true success 
is that which makes a man rich for eternity. 

(3 2 7) 



November 23. 

Except ye turn, and becot?ie as little children, ye shall 
in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. — St. 
Matthew xviii. 3. 

OUR great Teacher spoke strong words when he 
said that only those who become as little 
children can enter into the kingdom of heaven. It 
is of vital importance that we learn just what the 
words mean. What is it to become as a little 
child ? 

There is a legend of a man whom the angels 
loved, and wished to have honored in some way. 
They asked that some remarkable power might 
be bestowed upon him. They were told to learn 
what the man would choose. But he would make 
no choice. Pressed to name some new power 
which should be given him, he said he would like 
to do a great deal of good in the world without even 
knowing it. So it came about that whenever his 
shadow fell behind him it had healing power, but 
when it fell before his face it had not this power. 

This is Christlikene^ss, — goodness, power to do 
good, usefulness, helpfulness, without being con- 
scious of the possession of these qualities. Ambition 
to have distinction, craving for praise, conscious- 
ness of being good, bright, useful, or great, — all are 
marks of a worldly spirit. In another place Jesus 
said that greatness in his kingdom is the spirit of 
unselfish serving, — desiring "not to be ministered 
unto, but to minister." He who serves others the 
most unselfishly is the greatest. 

(328) 



November 24. 

The word of the Lord abideth for ever. — i Peter 
i. 25. 

MEN often make promises to others on which 
the others depend, perhaps staking all their 
interests and happiness on the word given to them, 
only to find at last that the promises have been for- 
gotten. But God's least word is sure and eternal. 
When a soul takes any divine promise, and builds a 
fabric of hope upon it, sooner might the stars fall 
from heaven than that God should forget his word 
or fail to make it good. 

An English nobleman, walking in the country 
one day, found a little child in distress. She had 
broken her pitcher, and her family were poor, and 
the vessel could not be replaced. The good man 
put his hand in his pocket to find some money to 
give the child, but had not a penny. Then he bade 
her meet him to-morrow at the same place, at the 
same hour, promising to bring her money to buy a 
new pitcher. The child ran away very happy, repos- 
ing perfect confidence in the stranger's word to her. 

To-morrow he was invited to dine with the queen 
at the very hour of his appointment with the child. 
But he promptly declined the invitation. He would 
not fail in his word, even to an unknown child of 
poverty. She had trusted him, and his promise had 
made her happy. He would not disappoint her for 
a thousand dinners with royalty. Will God be less 
faithful to his word ? No word he has spoken shall 
ever be broken. 

(3 2 9) 



November 25. 

Because to you it hath been granted in the behalf of 
Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer in 
his behalf — Philippians i. 29. 

WE cannot know in what way we can best 
glorify God. It may be in work ; it may 
be in quiet waiting ; it may be in painful suffering. 
It is better, therefore, that we let God choose the 
way in which he would have us serve and honor 
him. The bird glorifies God by singing its sweet 
song, the flower by pouring out its fragrance. 
Mary praised Christ by sitting at his feet, Martha 
by serving him. If we do simply his will, that will 
always be the best. 

" I cannot choose; I should have liked so much 
To sit at Jesus' feet — to feel the touch 
Of his kind, gentle hand upon my head, 
While drinking in the gracious words he said. 

And yet to serve him ! O divine employ, 
To minister and give the Master joy ; 
To bathe in coolest springs his weary feet, 
And wait upon him when he sat at meat ! 

Worship or service — which ? Ah, that is best 
To which he calls me, be it toil or rest — 
To labor for him in life's busy stir, 
Or seek his feet a silent worshipper. 

So let him choose for us. We are not strong 
To make the choice; perhaps we should go wrong, 
Mistaking zeal for service, sinful sloth 
For loving worship — and so fail of both." 

(33°) 



November 26. 

If he offer it for a thanksgiving, — Leviticus 
vii. 12. 

THE idea of this offering was, that when there 
was any special favor shown or blessing re- 
ceived, the heart's gratitude should express itself 
in this way. If the ship arrived safely through the 
storm, the passenger, as soon as he reached the 
shore, hastened to present his thank-offering. If 
one recovered from a dangerous sickness, his first 
walk abroad was to the tabernacle with his sacrifice 
and oblation. Should we not bring some new gift 
to God's altar after every recovery from sickness, 
every deliverance from danger, every new kindness 
enjoyed? 

There is a story of a Scotch mother whose child 
was stolen away by an eagle. Almost crazed, she 
saw the bird soar away to its eyrie far up the cliff. 
No one could scale the crag. The mother went to 
her room and prayed. An old sailor climbed the 
cliff, and crept down with the child. As the mother 
was still praying, with outstretched hands and shut 
eyes, he softly laid the babe on her arms and van- 
ished. Rising in silence, she did not even kiss her 
little one, till she had carried it to the kirk and 
solemnly given it to God. Should not every life given 
back again, every joy plucked from death and re- 
stored, as well as every new blessing granted, be 
given to God in solemn dedication before it is put 
to any other use? 

(33 



November 27. 

In all things I gave you an example, haw that so 
labouring ye ought to help the weak. — Acts xx. 35. 

ALL Christians are brethren. When one suffers, 
_ the others should share the pain. Fortunate 
people should not forget the unfortunate people. 
There are some of God's other children who are 
sick, while you are well : some who are hungry or 
cold, while you have plenty of bread and are warmly 
clad: some who are in sorrow, while you have joy: 
some who are orphaned and homeless, while you 
have home and friends. You, in your comfort and 
gladness, should not forget those who are in adver- 
sity. Keep your heart open toward them. Watch 
for opportunities to do good to them. Remember 
what Jesus said about the judgment day — that the 
places on his right hand will be for those who have 
fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, clothed 
the naked, visited the sick, the perishing, and the 
suffering, and that to these he will say, " Inasmuch 
as ve have done it unto one of the least of these 
my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 

\Vhen no low thoughts of self intrude, 

Angels adjust our rights ; 
And love that seeks its selfish good 

Dies in its own delights. 

How much we take, how little give ! 

Yet every life is meant 
To help all lives; each man should live 

For all men's betterment. 

Alice Cary. 



November 28. 

We are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them 
that are being saved, and in them that are perishing, 
. . . And who is sufficient for these things ? — 2 Cor- 
inthians ii. 15, 16. 

THE consciousness that others trust us is one 
of the strongest possible motives to faithful- 
ness. We dare not fail when we feel the pressure 
of other lives upon us ; for if we faint, or falter, or 
prove untrue, we shall draw them down with us. 
When a man has lived in such a way as to win the 
confidence and become the guide of others, he bears 
a responsibility which he can meet only by unalter- 
able fidelity. Every word of his is believed and 
rested upon. What if he speaks an untrue word, 
a word which misrepresents the divine teaching ! 
His example, too, is of infinite importance. Others 
believe in him so unquestionably that anything 
they know him to do they will regard as right and 
will feel at liberty to do themselves. But what if it 
be not right ? 

It is a weighty burden which a man bears who 
has become trusted teacher, guide, and friend of 
others. If he be not faithful to his sacred obliga- 
tion, he misrepresents Christ, and hurts the lives 
that lean upon him. To know that one stands for 
God to certain human souls, and is set to do God's 
work, to be the very hand of God to lead, or hold 
up, or lift up struggling, fainting souls, is enough 
to crush the strongest, bravest heart, if God be not 
real to it in his love, power, and presence, 

(333) 



November 29. 

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the 
exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and 

not from ourselves. — 2 Corixthiaxs iv. 7. 

EARTHLY success is not the test of spiritual 
life. Sometimes failure is better than success. 
God can do more with our weakness than with our 
strength. St. Paul learned that when he was weak 
then he was strong, because then the strength of 
Christ rested on him in fuller measure. Some- 
times we do more effective work when we seem to 
fail than when we appear to get through victori- 
ously. Many a preacher has learned that his best 
sermons are not those he thinks the best. Ofttimes 
when he has failed in making his discourse, it has 
accomplished more than any of his finer sermons 
on which he prided himself. 

It has been said that some of the greatest treas- 
ures in heaven will be the blunders God's children 
have made when trying to show their love. A 
mother said that the most sacred treasure in her 
home was a puckered handkerchief which her little 
girl, now in heaven, had tried to hem for her. 

" Close to his feet on the pathway, 
Empty and frail and small, 
An earthen vessel was lying, 
Which seemed of no use at all. 

But the Master saw it, and raised it 

From the dust in which it lay, 
And smiled as he gently whispered, 

'This shall do my work to-day.' " 

(334) 



November 30. 

All the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing 
the coats a?id garments which Dorcas made, while she 
was with them. — Acts ix. 39. 

A GOOD many people have to die to be appre- 
ciated. They go through the world living 
quietly, devoted to the interests of those who are 
dear to them, seeking no recognition. They are 
merely commonplace people, and so are allowed to 
love and serve without appreciation. 

But one day they are missed from their wonted 
place ; their work is done and they are gone. Then 
the empty place reveals the value of the blessing 
they have been. In their absence people learn for 
the first time the value of the services they had been 
accustomed to receive from them. There are many 
who might adopt, as part of their liturgy of grief, 
lines like the following : — 

" She lived and labored 'midst the lowliest things, 
% Walked at my side and talked, and oft did fill 

The gracious hours that friendly twilight brings 

With toil, naught questioning if good or ill 
Were hers ; soft lullabies she crooned at eve, 

Like poppies' breath falling down tenderly 
On infant eyelids, that gay sports would leave 

To nestle close and sleep upon her knee. 
Her life was colorless and commonplace, 

Devoid of poetry — I thought it so, 
For I was blind, and could not see the grace 

That grew through common duties ; now I know, 
Since she has gone from me and all her cares, 

I entertained an angel unawares." 

(33s) 



December 1. 

Be not therefore anxious for the morrow ; for the 
morrow will be anxious for itself, — St. Matthew 
vi. 34- 

ONE reason our Lord gives for not worrying 
about the future is that we have nothing to 
do with it. Each day has its own duties, its own 
needs, its own trials and temptations ; and God 
always gives us strength enough for the day. But 
if we insist upon dragging back to-morrow's cares 
and adding them to to-day's, the strength will not 
be enough, for God will not add to the day's portion 
of strength just to humor our whims of anxiety. 

So the lesson is that we should keep the days 
fenced off, each one by itself. " Do to-day's duty, 
fight to-day's temptation, and do not weaken and 
distract yourself by looking forward to things which 
you cannot see, and could not understand if you 
saw them. 7 ' You say, " I could get through with 
to-day, but this must go on to-morrow and to-mor- 
row." Yet you may not have any to-morrow ; cer- 
tainly you have no to-morrow to-day. When the 
morrow comes it will bring its own strength. 

" One day at a time. A burden too great 
To be borne for two can be borne for one. 
Who knows what will enter to-morrow's gate? 
While vet we are speaking, all may be done. 

One day at a time. But a single day, 
Whatever its load, whatever its length ; 
And there's a bit of precious Scripture to say 
That according to each shall be our strength." 

(336) 



December 2. 

Go thy way for this time ; and when I have a con- 
ve?iient season, I will call thee imto me. — Acts 
xxiv. 25. 

THAT is the way men are continually doing. 
They hear the truth and feel its power, but 
put off action. Felix was not true to his own best 
interests. He was not honest with himself. He 
saw the wrong in his own life ; he had a glimpse of 
the judgment ; he was terrified ; he knew what he 
ought to do — yet he put the matter off. He did 
not doubt the truth of what Paul said, he did not 
actually reject the Saviour Paul offered ; he merely 
postponed action. Some other time he would find 
it more convenient to adjust his life to the requisite 
condition. 

This is a well-trodden highway, and there always 
are thousands upon it. They believe the word 
of God, and are terrified when they think of the 
awful facts of eternity. They mean to turn and be 
saved, but they put it off. There will be a more 
convenient season by and by. It is a terribly mis- 
taken way to do. The best time to repent and be 
saved is always now. A more convenient season 
will never come. Countless thousands have been 
lost by saying to-morrow when they should have 
said to-day. 

"To-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow, 

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, 

To the last syllable of recorded time; 

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 

The way to dusty death.' ' 

(337) 



December 3. 

This is the man, that teacheth all men everywhere 
against the people, and the law, and this place. — Acts 
xxi. 28. 

THIS was a case of gross misrepresentation. 
Paul had never uttered a word against either 
the Jewish people, the law, or the temple. They 
had perverted and distorted his words into mean- 
ings he never thought of. Many persons thus take 
the words of others, give a wrong sense to them, 
and then repeat them. 

Misrepresentation is a grievous sin. Many a 
calumny that destroys a fair name grows from a 
mere misstatement, an inexact reporting of some- 
thing said or done. We should be scrupulously 
careful, if we must repeat what others say, that we 
state the precise truth. No fault of speech is more 
common than want of accuracy in quoting. Most 
people's ears seem to hear with a bias in favor of 
their own prejudices; then in reporting what they 
have heard, the bias is too apt to show its influence 
a second time in emphasizing the distortion. 

Besides, when a story travels as far as from 
Ephesus to Jerusalem, and passes through a num- 
ber of ears and tongues, it is scarcely to be ex- 
pected that it will arrive just the same as it started. 
It is proverbial that stories grow in frequent repeti- 
tion. Paul is not the only person who has not 
recognized at all his own words after they had gone 
the rounds. Let us learn the virtue of accuracy. 
Inaccuracy is lying. 

(33s) 



December 4. 

Having loved his own which were in the world, hb 
loved them unto the end. — St. John xiii. i. 

HIS own ! How sweet the words are ! They 
tell of a close and most sacred relation. His 
own ! We belong to him, not simply as property, 
but in the ownership of love. " Ye are not your 
own, for ye are bought with a price." The prints 
of the nails tell of the cost of our redemption. We 
are " his own " because the Father gave us to him. 
" Thine they were, and thou gavest them me." 
Then we are " his own " because we have volun- 
tarily given ourselves to him. That is what you 
did when you became a Christian. You accepted 
the love that claimed you. 

The relation is like that between two friends. 
The world cannot intermeddle. It is a close, per- 
sonal relation. All believers are Christ's own, but 
there is a sense in which each one has all of Christ 
for himself. We all sit down at the same com- 
munion table and the banner of love is over all ; 
yet each one has a whole communion of his own. 
The sun shines upon the broad field and bathes all 
the million grass-blades and flowers in his beams. 
But each blade and each flower can say, " The sun 
is mine ; he shines for me." Christ's love is for 
all his church, and floods the world ; but the smallest 
of his little ones can say, " He is my Friend, my 
Saviour, my Master." " We are Christ's own." 
All of Christ is ours — all his love and all his 
grace. 

(339) 



December 5. 

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose 
sin is covered. — Psalm xxxii. i . 

^yO blessedness can ever come to any one until 
N forgiveness has come. Unforgiven sin lies 
as a heavy curse upon a life. No other favor or 
prosperity is of any avail while sin remains uncan- 
celled. But with forgiveness comes all the blessed- 
ness of life and glory. When we are forgiven we 
become at once God's children, heirs of God, and 
joint heirs with Christ to all the rich inheritance of 
eternal life. All the blessings of salvation are in 
this one. 

We may study also with profit the word " cover." 
There is one way of covering sin which brings no 
blessing. W T e must not try to cover our own sin. 
" He that covereth his sins shall not prosper ; but 
whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have 
mercy." Sins that we cover are not put away. 
They are like the quiet fires in the volcano, ready 
to burst out any moment in all their terribleness. 
But when God covers our sins they are put out of 
sight forever — out of our sight, the world's sight, 
God's sight. 

In one place God says he will remember our sins 
against us no more. The covering is complete and 
final. The sins are covered by the atonement of 
Christ. " All we like sheep have gone astray . . . 
and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us 
all." If our sins were laid on Jesus Christ they are 
covered forever, and will never rise up against us. 

(34o) 



December 6. 

He took a towel, and girded himself. Then he 
poureth water into the basin, and began to wash the 
disciples'' feet, and to wipe them with the towel. — St. 
John xiii. 4, 5. 

THERE are many pictures of Jesus — the Holy 
Child in the manger, the Redeemer on the 
cross, the Conqueror with the keys, but none of 
them surpasses that of the servant with the towel 
and basin. We get the lesson of service. Jesus 
did not think his holy hands too fine for the wash- 
ing of the feet of the twelve men who sat around 
the table. Many of us think we are too fine in the 
texture of our being, or too high in our rank among 
men, to stoop to lowly service like this. This pic- 
ture of the Christ is a New Testament answer to 
all such pride and pretension. 

Our service should be personal. Christ washed 
the feet of his disciples with his own hands. Too 
many like to do all their serving by proxy. They 
believe in washing feet, but they get some other 
body to do it for them. They will pay something 
to a missionary to visit and relieve the poor or the 
sick, but will not do the work with their own hands. 
This is not what Christ's example teaches us. We 
would better do the serving ourselves. 

" When all our hopes are gone, 

'Tis well our hands must still keep toiling on 

For others' sake; 
For strength to bear is found in duty done, 
And he is blest indeed who learns to make 
The joy of others cure his own heartache.' ' 

(341) 



December 7. 

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou 
k?iowest not now ; but thou shalt understa?id hereafter. 
— St. John xiii. 7. 

IT is never wise for us to pass judgment on any 
of God's providences while we can read but 
a part of their meaning. No work can be fairly 
judged while it is only in progress. We must wait 
till it is completed. As the end must sometimes lie 
far out of sight, whether it be in future years of 
earthly life, or in the unrevealed life beyond earth's 
horizon, we need to train ourselves to trust the 
goodness and the love of God, believing that he 
will do only what is right and what is best also for 
us. It is faith alone can give us peace. 

I think if thou could'st know, 
O soul, that will complain, 
What lies concealed below 

Our burden and our pain; 
How just our anguish brings 
Nearer those longed-for things 
We seek for now in vain, 
I think thou would'st rejoice, and not complain. 

I think if thou could'st see 

With thy dim mortal sight, 
How meanings dark to thee 
Are shadows hiding light; 
Truth's efforts crossed and vexed, 
Life's purpose all perplexed, — 
If thou could'st see them right, 
I think that they would seem all clear, and wise, and bright. 

Adelaide Procter. 

(342) 



December 8. 

Let every ma?i be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow 
to wrath. — James i. 19. 

WE are told that we ought to think twice before 
we speak. Sometimes we are advised if we 
are feeling unkindly, to count ten before we open 
our mouth. Yet hasty words ofttimes fly from our 
lips in the moment of excited feeling ; and before 
we have time to think twice, or count half of ten, 
the harm is done, the keen word has flashed like a 
dart into some gentle heart. 

These hasty words are spoken, too, most fre- 
quently between those who love each other. We 
control our speech fairly well when it is with stran- 
gers or ordinary acquaintances we are speaking ; but 
with those we love best we are less careful. We 
let our worry or our weariness make us irritable, 
and then we utter the hasty words which five min- 
utes afterward we would give all we have to recall. 
But such words never can be recalled. They may 
be forgiven, for love forgives till seventy times 
seven times ; but the wounds, the scars, remain. 

Words are mighty, words are living; 

Serpents with their venomous stings, 
Or bright angels crowding round us, 

With heaven's light upon their wings ; 
Every word has its own spirit, 

True or false, that never dies; 
Every word man's lips have uttered 

Echoes in God's skies. 

Adelaide Procter. 

(343) 



December 9. 

Thou . . . hast ?iot asked for thyself long life; 
neither hast asked riches . . . lo, I have given thee 
a wise and an understanding heart. — i Kings iii. 1 1 . 

THE Lord approved the choice Solomon had 
made. It was an unselfish choice. He was 
thinking of his people, and wanted to be a good 
king. It was a spiritual choice — not gold, power, 
victory, and fame, but wisdom to qualify him for 
duty, to fit him for fulfilling well his mission. Such 
a choice always pleases God. He loves to have us 
choose the best things. 

St. James says that the reason men ask and re- 
ceive not is because they ask that they may consume 
God's gifts on their lusts. The prayer of selfish- 
ness is never pleasing to God ; but he is pleased 
when we ask for things to be used in blessing 
others. The prayer for mere earthly things may 
really be for a curse upon our life. Midas desired 
the power to change into gold whatever he touched. 
His request was granted ; and the fruits he plucked, 
and the food he would put into his mouth, turned to 
gold, until in the agonies of starvation he was com- 
pelled to cry for the withdrawal of the power. It 
was a curse, not a blessing to him. 

So it is with those who live only for wealth ; they 
get it, but their souls are starving. Solomon asked 
for wisdom only, and left all other matters to God's 
own choice. Jesus said, " Seek ye first the king- 
dom of God and his righteousness, and all these 
things shall be added unto you." 

(344) 



December 10. 

It was in my heart to build an house . . . But the 
word of the Lord came to me, saying, . . . thou shalt 
not build an house unto my name. — i Chronicles 
xxii. 7, 8. 

GOD was pleased with David's desire, but it was 
not David's work to build a temple. His 
part was to conquer the country, and gather ma- 
terials for the house. Sometimes the things we 
purpose to do we are not permitted to accomplish. 
They belong to some other worker who is to come 
after us, and are not part of our mission at all. 

There are many people called to do preparatory 
work. A man goes to the West, and clears off a 
piece of ground, building a rude log hut. His son 
succeeds him, and in the midst of broad, rich acres 
erects a palatial home. The father's work was just 
as important in its place, though not so conspicuous, 
as the son's. One set of men make the excavations 
for a building, and then put in the foundations. For 
weeks they toil underground ; and then another set 
of men come, the walls rise up, and the magnificent 
building attracts all eyes. The foundation work is 
buried out of sight, but who will say that it is less 
important than the splendid walls that tower above 
the street ? 

But for what David did, Solomon never could 
have built the temple. It is the same in all life. 
To each one God allots a place and a part ; and if 
we do that which God gives us to do, he asks 
nothing more. 

(345) 



December 11. 

If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep 
my charge, then . . . I will give thee a place of access 
among these that stand by. — -Zechariah iii. 7. 

THE way to rise to higher places is to be faithful 
where we are. Unless we do well the smaller 
things which God gives us to do, he will not intrust 
greater things to us. The man who was faithful and 
diligent in the use of his two talents saw the two 
become four, and found himself put in trust also with 
new responsibilities. The promise here was, that 
if this good priest would walk in God's ways, and 
keep his charge, he should have influence and power 
in God's house, and should stand among angels. 

This latter is a remarkable promise. It seems to 
mean that even on the earth those who are faithful 
in holy things shall have fellowship with angels. 
They may not be conscious of the companionship 
amid which they stand, but really they are working 
alongside spiritual beings continually while they 
wait upon God. 

Then, those who serve God faithfully and dili- 
gently in holy things in this world will be received 
into the good fellowship of angels in the other 
world. The lesson, however, is that faithfulness in 
the common duties of the passing days is the one 
thing of life with us. If we live thus, God will lead 
us step by step, even into larger service and greater 
usefulness, as he may find us ready. We need not 
worry about our promotion — the only real promo- 
tion is that which comes through fidelity. 

(346) 



December 12. 

The whole congregation . . . murmured against Moses 
and against Aaron in the wilderness. — Exodus xvi. 2. 

AS soon as the people of Israel got away from 
_ visible means of sustenance, they lost heart. 
It is strange, we say, that so soon they could have 
forgotten all God's wonderful deliverances in the 
past. 

But are we any more trustful ? We sing and are 
joyful while things go well ; and then when want or 
need comes, away go the song and the joy. There 
is a great deal of murmuring done yet when Elims 
have to be left for desert roads. How much happier 
we would be if we had learned to walk by faith 
rather than by sight ! A promise of God really is 
a great deal better security for provision in life than 
any quantity of food in store, or any amount of 
notes and bonds in the bank. Nothing in this 
world is so real as are the invisible things of God's 
love. If we are his children we may trust him 
absolutely, no matter how dreary the desert may 
be. 

" He who hath led will lead 

All through the wilderness ; 
He who hath fed will feed; 

He who hath blessed will bless; 
He who hath heard thy cry 

Will never close his ear ; 
He who hath marked thy faintest sigh 

Will not forget thy tear. 
He loveth always, faileth never; 
So rest on him, to-day, forever." 

(347) 



December 13. 

Moses alone shall come near unto the Lord, — 
Exodus xxiv. 2. 

THERE are always some who are admitted to 
closer intimacy with Christ than others. In 
his first disciple family, John came nearest. The 
way is open, however, for all to come as near as 
they will. Yet it is not height on earth's hills that 
takes us closest to him. Those are greatest in the 
kingdom of heaven — so the Master said — who are 
most like children ; also those who serve the most 
sweetly and unselfishly. In the psalm, too, when 
the question is asked, " Who shall ascend into the 
hill of the Lord ? '' the answer is, " He that hath 
clean hands and a pure heart." 

Getting up in the world may not be getting up 
toward God ; yet we may rise toward God, and that 
surely is infinitely the worthiest aspiration of an 
immortal soul. Moses was called up near to God 
that he might get blessings to carry down to the 
people. Those who get closer to God than others 
are always privileged to become blessings to the 
world. God fills their hands with gifts that they 
are to distribute, and reveals to them precious things 
that they are to communicate to others. 

" When one that holds communion with the skies 
Has filled his urn where those pure waters rise, 
And once more mingles with us meaner things, 
'Tis e'en as if an angel shook his wings; 
Immortal fragrance fills the circuit wide 
That tells us whence his treasures are supplied." 

(348) 



December 14. 

Gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another : 
for God visiteth the proud, but giveth grace to the 
humble, — i Peter v. 5. 

WHAT is humility ? It is not thinking meanly 
of one's self. It is not a voluntary humbling 
of one's self for any particular purpose. It is the 
spirit which is ready always to use its best powers 
and its richest gifts in the lowliest service of love. 
Love is at the heart of it. When we truly love 
others we are interested in them, and will do them 
any service they need, however hard or costly or 
lowly it may be, not considering ourselves too fine 
to serve them, nor any possession of ours too good 
to be used in their behalf. 

It is not the lowly place in which one lives and 
works which makes one humble. One may be 
proud, and move in a very obscure sphere. Humil- 
ity is in the spirit, not in the station. 

" In some still nook dost toil unknown? 
Thy simple fare unnoticed take, 
Keeping true heart, asleep, awake, 
While deeds less brave than thine have flown 
Where fame's proud trump is loudly blown. 
Work patiently for God's dear sake; 
Give what thou caost to hearts that ache. 
The Lord some day will claim his own ; 
And when he counts his treasures o'er 
Upon eternity's bright shore, 
It may be he will value more 
The fragrance of the lily's bell, 
Shed richly in its narrow dell, 
Than stars whose praise the ages tell." 

(349) 



December 15. 

My little children, let us not love i?i word, neither with 
the tongue ; but in deed and truth. — i John iii. 18. 

MORE and more are Christian people learning 
that true religion must have adequate and 
fitting expression in the life. A good creed and 
activity in Christian work are not the best tests of 
Christlikeness. It is in Christian character, and in 
the exercise of the spiritual graces in life's contacts, 
that Christian culture finds its finest expression. 

To put it more simply, love is the true measure 
of Christian life. Becoming a Christian is simply 
letting the love of God into the heart. This love 
is something which cannot be hid. If it is in the 
heart, it will work its way out in the life. As George 
MacDonald puts it : " When God comes to man, 
man looks around for his neighbor." So it always 
is. The love of God dwells not in a man who does 
not love his neighbor. The nearer we come to the 
heart of Christ, the deeper and tenderer becomes 
our interest in our brothers and sisters. 

Be what thou seemest; live thy creed; 
Hold up to earth the torch divine; 
Be what thou prayest to be made; 
Let the great Master's steps be thine. 

Sow love, and taste its fruitage pure; 
Sow peace, and reap its harvest bright; 
Sow sunbeams on the rock and moor, 
And find a harvest-home of light. 

Bonar, 

(35°) 



December 16. 

Buy the truth, and sell it not ; yea, wisdom, and in- 
struction, and understanding, — Proverbs xxiii. 23. 

IT is not with money that we buy the truth : the 
price we must pay is our self-will, our pride, 
our self-confidence. We ought, however, to yield 
ourselves utterly to the truth, and should do it 
promptly. He who will not pay any price, however 
great, to be true is losing where he seems to be 
saving. 

There is a legend of King Tarquin and the sibyl. 
The old woman came into the king's presence 
staggering under the weight of nine great rolls of 
manuscript, containing prophecies and counsels 
concerning Rome. She offered them for sale, but 
asked a price so high that the king hesitated to buy 
them. " Wait till to-morrow," said the king. Next 
day she came again, but with only six books, hav- 
ing destroyed three ; and for the six she asked twice 
as much as she had asked for the nine. Tarquin 
again declined to purchase, and the woman again 
withdrew. Once more she came, this time with 
only three of the volumes, and asking a yet higher 
price. Tarquin dared delay no longer, and pur- 
chased the books at the cost of half his treasure, 
for they were of great value to him. 

The truth is offered to us, but at a high price. 
If we delay, less and less is offered to us, and it 
ever costs us more to buy. The best time to begin 
to buy God's truth is in gentle youth. We buy it 
when we live it, no matter at what sacrifice. 

(350 



December 17. 

He was despised and rejected of men. — Isaiah 
liii. 3. 

THE saddest thing about the life of Christ was 
the unwelcome he met among those he had 
come to bless. He came with a great love in his 
heart. He wanted to do them good, to draw them 
away from their sins, to make them love God, to 
lead them to heaven. " He came unto his own, 
and his own received him not." He went to their 
doors and knocked, and they kept their doors shut 
upon him ; and he had to go away with his gifts and 
blessings unbestowed, leaving " his own " in their 
sin and sorrow. 

It is the same yet. Christ comes with treasures 
of life and glory, which he offers to all ; but men 
and women pay no heed to his knocking and his 
calls, and he has to pass on. " He is despised and 
rejected." He never forces his blessings on any. 
He knocks, but we must open the door. He will 
never open it himself. 

In Holman Hunt's picture, " The Light of the 
World," the door has no knob on the outside ; it 
can be opened only from within. You can keep 
the omnipotent Christ outside your heart if you 
will ; you do keep him out by simply not rising to 
open to him. It does not need dishonoring sins, 
nor any violent rejection of the Saviour, to make 
one a lost sinner ; the mildest and gentlest indif- 
ference to his knocking and call will do it just as 
effectually. 

(35 2 ) 



December 18. 

Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the 
things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. — Acts 
xxviii. 31. 

THIS is the last glimpse Acts gives us of St. 
Paul. The glorious apostle appears as a 
prisoner, though keeping open house and receiving 
all who came to him. No doubt many came to him 
with their questions, their burdens, their sorrows. 
Men with gentle spirit and deep and wide sym- 
pathies become a blessing to many people in the 
world. Those whose hearts are hungry, or who are 
under the shadow of grief or of sin, turn to them 
with eagerness, as thirsty animals turn to springs of 
water. That was the kind of man St. Paul was, 
and no doubt many came to him with their needs. 
He had something they had not. He listened to 
them patiently, and sympathized with them tenderly. 

But notice also the kind of help he gave to those 
who came. He preached to them the kingdom of 
God, and taught them the things about the Lord 
Jesus Christ. He fed their hunger with the bread 
of heaven. He pointed them to the only source of 
comfort. He presented Christ to them as the only 
One who could help them and bless them. We 
have nothing in ourselves to give to those who come 
seeking help or comfort. We can only point them 
to the Saviour. 

These prison days of St. Paul were among the 
most fruitful of his whole ministry. We may make 
our shut-in days full of good for the world. 

(353) 



December 19. 

He went on his way rejoicing. — x\cts viii. 39. 

HE did not give up his journey and decide to go 
back among the other Christians because he 
was now a believer. He went on his way to his own 
country and to his own business ; but he had a new 
secret of joy in his heart. Part of the duty of this 
new convert was to carry the knowledge of Christ 
back to the people among whom he had been living. 
He had found something which they needed and 
which would bless them as it had blessed him. 

We learn that a new-born Christian is not to give 
up his work. Of course if he is engaged in any 
wrong occupation he must give it up. But if his 
occupation is right, he is usually to stick to it, and 
carry Christ with him into it. A carpenter when 
converted is to continue a carpenter — with Christ. 

To be a Christian makes one happy. This man 
went on his way rejoicing. His heart was full of 
song. The Christian goes on in his work day by 
day : but while he works his heart sings, and the 
songs make the way shorter and the burdens lighter 
for him, while at the same time they give cheer to 
others on whose ears they fall. As Keble says : — 

There are in this loud stunning tide 

Of human care and crime, 
With whom the melodies abide 

Of th' everlasting chime; 
Who carry music in their heart 

Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, 
Plying their task with busier feet 

Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat. 

(354) 



December 20. 

The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that 
heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let 
him come : he that will, let him take the water of life 
freely. — Revelation xxii. 17. 

A GREAT novelist tells of a child that wandered 
away from her home. Every night when it 
grew dark a candle was set in the window, to show 
to the lost one, if ever she crept back repentant, 
that love's place was kept for her within. The 
Bible seems to me like a great palace standing 
in the centre of a dark world. It has a thousand 
windows ; and in every one of them a bright light 
shines, to tell earth's lost ones of a home where 
they will find a welcome if they but come to its 
door. 

" I heard the voice of Jesus say, 

' Come unto me and rest ! 
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down 

Thy head upon my breast.' 
I came to Jesus as I was, 

Weary, and worn, and sad; 
I found in him a resting-place, 

And he has made me glad. 

I heard the voice of Jesus say, 

* Behold, I freely give 
The living water; thirsty one, 

Stoop down and drink, and live.' 
I came to Jesus, and I drank 

Of that life-giving stream; 
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, 

And now I live in him." 

(35s) 



December 21. 

He that is righteous, let him do righteousness still. — 
Revelation xxii. n. 

THE life in the after world will not be different 
from the life here. The same good things 
we have learned to do here, we shall continue to do 
there. Those who have learned here to do right- 
eousness shall continue, in the other life, to do 
righteousness. We shall still obey God there, and 
do his will ; only we shall be more obedient than 
we have been here, and shall do his will better — 
perfectly. We shall love God there with all our 
l\eart, and love each other as ourself ; our life there 
shall be a perfect brotherhood, and heaven shall be 
a perfect home. It will still be more blessed there 
to give than to receive. They will still be chief 
there who shall serve. Love, joy, peace, long-suf- 
fering, meekness, gentleness, goodness, truth, will 
still be fruits of the Spirit there as they are here. 

Life in heaven will not be so strange to us as we 
think, if we have learned to do God's will in this 
world. The everlasting life begins the moment we 
believe on Christ. While we remain on this sphere 
it is hindered and hampered by the limitations of 
earth, but in all true Christian experiences there 
are intimations of what the full blessedness will be. 
When we reach heaven the life begun here will go 
on, only without hindrance, limitation, or imperfec- 
tion, forever. We are taught to pray that the will 
of God may be done on earth as it is in heaven. 
Thus we are to get ready here for heaven. 

(356) 



December 22. 

// is more blessed to give than to receive. — Acts 
xx. 35. 

WE shall have a happier Christmas for our- 
selves, if we have helped to make a little 
joy for some others. We give presents to our 
friends — and that is right ; but if we would get 
the richest blessing from our giving, we must re- 
member also some one who really needs our gift; 
feeding some hungry one, or sending clothing to 
one who is shivering in the cold. This is the giv- 
ing that is more blessed than receiving. 

This is taught in the story of Sir Launfal's quest 
for the Holy Grail. He set out in his gilded mail 
to seek in all climes for the lost cup. Long he 
journeyed, but in vain. He came back an old, bent 
man, yet with chastened spirit, and at his own gate 
found a leper, with whom he shared his last crust. 
A voice " clearer than silence " spoke and said to 
him : — 

" Lo, it is I, be not afraid; 
In many climes, without avail, 
Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy Grail; 
Behold, it is here, — this cup which thou 
Didst fill at the streamlet for me but now; 
This crust is my body broken for thee, 
This water his blood that died on the tree; 
The Holy Supper is kept, indeed, 
In whatso we share with another's need; 
Not what we give, but what we share, — 
For the gift without the giver is bare ; 
Who gives himself with his alms, feeds three, — 
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me." 

(357) 



December 23. 

Peter said, Silver a?id gold have I none ; but what 
I have, that give I thee. — Acts iii. 6. 

IN a story a good man says, " It's very hard to 
know how to help- people when you can't send 
them blankets, or coals, or Christmas dinners." 
With many people this is very true. They know 
not how to help others save in such ways. Yet the 
needs which these material things satisfy are the 
smallest needs of human lives. There are better 
ways of helping, — with sympathy, hope, cheer, 
courage, inspiration, comfort. These are the bless- 
ings which most people need far more than they 
need blankets or coals or Christmas dinners. 

So far as we know, Jesus gave no money. He 
did not have it to give. Yet there never was in 
this world another such dispenser of true alms as 
he was. He gave encouragement, instruction, love. 
He told people of higher things. 

None of us are too poor to give help in the same 
way. We may not have silver and gold to bestow, 
but out of a warm heart we can give coins of love 
which will mean far more than money. We should 
always keep a gentle heart, and then we can be a 
blessing to many. 

" Who are the blest? 

They who have kept their sympathies awake, 

And scattered joy for more than custom's sake — 

Steadfast and tender in the hour of need, 

Gentle in thought, benevolent in deed; 

Whose looks have power to make dissension cease — 

Whose smiles are pleasant, and whose words are peace." 

(35s) 



December 24. 

I bring you good tidings of g?-eat joy, which shall be 
to all the people. — St. Luke ii. 10. 

IF we are sitting in peace and joy, our hearts filled 
with sweet Christmas thoughts, we should re- 
member those whose homes will be dark and sad 
to-morrow, when all over the land the bells will be 
ringing. Perhaps we can do little to give them 
comfort ; but we can pray for them, and thus call 
down blessings upon them. For, after all, the best 
way to send blessings to people is through God. 
He has thousands of messengers, and he can aiways 
send the things of his love where we can send a 
kindly wish. Here is a beautiful prayer for Christ- 
mas Eve in which every Christian heart may join. 

" O Lord, there sit apart in lonely places, 

On this, the gladdest night of all the year, 
Some stricken ones with sad and weary faces 

To whom the thought of Christmas brings no cheer. 
For these, O Father, our petition hear, 
And send the pitying Christ-child very near. 

And there be tempted souls this night, still waging 
Such desperate warfare with all evil powers; 

Anthems of peace, while the dead strife is raging, 
Sound but a mockery through their midnight hours; 

For these, O Father, our petition hear, 

And send thy tempted, sinless Christ-child very near. 

Lord, some sit by lonely hearthstones, sobbing, 
Who feel this night all earthly love denied, 

Who hear but dirges in the loud bells' throbbing 
For loved ones lost who blessed last Christmastide; 

For these, O Father, our petition hear, 

And send the loving Christ-child very near." 

(359) 



December 25. % 

They offered unto him gifts, gold and frankincense 
a?id myrrh. — St. Matthew ii. n. 

THEY were not content merely to worship the 
King, showing him homage in word or in 
posture ; but they also laid their gifts at his feet. 
It is not enough for us to sing our songs of praise 
to Christ, to bow before him in reverent worship, 
and to speak our heart's homage in words. We 
should bring our gifts too, the pledges of our love, 
to lay at his feet. 

There is a great deal of mere sentiment in the 
consecration of many people. It is sentiment only ; 
and when there is call for gifts or sacrifices, or for 
real services, the sentiment instantly vanishes. 
People sing missionary hymns with great warmth, 
and when the collection-plate comes to them they 
sing on but allow the plate to pass by. They make 
prayers that God would send laborers into his vine- 
yard, but they do not themselves respond to God's 
call for laborers and errand-runners. We need to 
learn the lesson that our singing and praying can 
never go beyond our living. 

Not only did these magi bring gifts, but they 
brought rich and costly gifts ; we should bring our 
best, — our gold, frankincense, and myrrh, the ala- 
baster box of our heart's deepest love, and the best 
of all our life and service. Too often we give Christ 
only what is left over after we have taken all we 
desire for self-indulgence, or for the promotion of 
our own ambitions. We should always let him 
have the best, (^60) 



December 26. 

Then shall he send forth the angels, and shall gather 
together his elect . . . from the uttermost pari of the 
earth. — St. Mark xiii. 27. 

THERE is no danger that in the last day any 
one will be overlooked or forgotten who has 
been a true follower of Christ. The obscurest 
Christian, hidden away in the lowliest or most 
neglected spot, will not be missed by the angels 
when they come to gather in Christ's little ones. 
On nearly every battle-field where the slain are 
buried, there are graves marked by the sad word 
" Unknown." But if among these there are those 
who belonged to Christ, the angels will not fail to 
find them and bring them. 

A ship went down on the British coast, and all 
on board perished. None of the bodies of those 
who had been lost were found, save the little body 
of an infant that was washed ashore among the 
wreckage. The kindly people of the place who 
picked it up buried the body, and having no clew 
to its name, put on the little stone simply, " God 
knows." When the angels come they will know 
whose body it is, and will not overlook it. 

There is only one thing about which we need to 
concern ourselves, — that we are indeed of those 
who have accepted Christ and have been faithful 
to him in this life. It will not matter in that day 
whether we have been rich or poor, famous among 
men or unknown; the determining element will be, 
whether or not we have belonged to Christ 

(3 6 *) 



December 27. 

That they all may be one ; even as thou, Father, art 
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us : that 
the world may believe that thou didst send me, — St. 
John xvii. 21. 

A WRITER tells of a Scotch village with only 
one street, all the people on one side being 
of one sect, and all on the other side of an oppos- 
ing sect. The minister of one of the churches was 
very ill. As death drew nigh, the light of peace 
shone into his soul, and made clear to him truths 
which before had been obscure. 

One day he said to a friend, " The street which I 
am now walking on has nae sides, and if power 
were given me I would preach purity of life mair 
and purity of doctrine less than I did." 

" Are you not a little heretical at your journey's 
end?" said the friend. "I know not" was the 
reply ; " names have not the same terror for me 
they once had. Since I was laid here alone, I have 
heard the whisperings of the still, small voice, tell- 
ing me that the footfalls of faith and their wrang- 
lings will not be heard in the Lord's kingdom 
which I am nearing." 

The nearer we get to God, and the more of the spirit 
of Christ there is in us, the less will we, too, think of 
the things that divide, and the more of the things that 
bind us together. When we get home we shall see 
how trivial were the things that divided us here, oft- 
times keeping us far apart, and what possibilities of 
fellowship we missed as we journeyed heavenward. 

(362) 



December 28. 

Sleep o?i now, and take your rest : it is enough ; the 
hour is come. — St. Mark xiv. 41. 

TT 7E need to learn the importance of timeliness 
VV in duty. There are many things which if 
done to-day will prove untold blessings, but which 
to-morrow it will not be worth while to do. It is 
to-day the sick neighbor needs your visit, your help ; 
to-morrow he may be well, or others shall have min- 
istered to him, or he may be dead. It is to-day that 
the tempted one needs your cheer ; to-morrow he 
may be defeated, lying in the dust of shame. To- 
morrow is a fatal word; countless thousands of 
hopes have been wrecked on it. 

" If you have gentle words and looks, my friends, 
To spare for me — if you have tears to shed 
That I have suffered — keep them not, I pray, 
Untu I hear not, see not, being dead. 

If you have flowers to give — fair lily buds, 
Pink roses., daisies (meadow stars that be 

Mine own dear namesakes), let them bloom and make 
The air, while yet I breathe it, sweet for me. 

For loving looks, thought fraught with tenderness, 
And kindly tears, though they fall thick and fast, 

And words of praise, alas ! can naught avail 
To lift the shadows from a life that's past; 

And rarest blossoms, what can they suffice, 

Offered to one who can no longer gaze 
Upon their beauty? Flowers on coffins laid 

Impart no sweetness to departed days." 

(363) 



December 29. 

So teach 7 is to number our days, that we may get us 
a?i heart of wisdom. — Psalm xc. 12. 

THERE are several ways of numbering our 
days. One way is merely to count them off 
as we tear off the daily leaves of our calendar. 
Each evening a man has one day less to live. But 
that is not true numbering. Another way is merely 
to count the days into the aggregate of life. A 
man is one day older — but that is all. He is no 
better. He has left no worthy record on the day's 
page. The true numbering is that which fills the 
days as they pass with records of good and beauti- 
ful living, and with lines of growth in character. 

Just now we are looking back over the story of a 
closing year. What have we given the days to keep 
for us ? What lessons of wisdom have we learned 
from them, as one by one they have passed ? There 
is little good in worrying over the failures of the 
year, but we ought to learn from our past. He is 
the wise man, not who makes no mistakes, but who 
does not repeat his mistakes. 

Are you rich in the years of bright gold 
Yet untold? 
Do they leisurely go, 
Like a dream that is fair, 
Or a prayer? 
Oh, be wise; use them well ! You shall know 
How the years, growing shorter, with good can increase, 
And a life at the end be transfigured with peace. 

Marianne Farningham. 

(364) 



December 30. 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea 
and for ever. — Hebrews xiii. 8. 

WE leave many things behind us as we go on. 
We can never go back again over the clos- 
ing year. We never go over any life-path a second 
time. We never pass a second time through any 
experience. We have infancy once, childhood once, 
youth once, manhood and womanhood once, old age 
once, and we die once. We are forever leaving 
things, places, conditions, and experiences behind 
us. But through all these we have the same Christ, 
unchanged, unchanging. 

The old ark was carried forward into the new land 
of promise, and still led the people. The Christ of 
childhood and of youth remains the Christ of man- 
hood and of old age. Whatever changes the years 
bring to us, we must ever keep our eyes on the 
living Christ. He will always be all we need. 
There will never be a path which he cannot find for 
us and show us. There will never be a dark valley 
which he cannot light up for us. There will never be 
a battle which he cannot fight for us. There will 
never be an experience through which he cannot 
safely take us. We are leaving the old year behind, 
but we are not leaving Christ in the dead year. We 
need not be afraid, therefore, to go forward, if we 
go with him. We have not passed this new way 
heretofore, and it is all strange to our inexperience ; 
but Christ knows and he will guide us, and all will 
be well if we put our hand in his. 

(365) 



December 31. 

Forgetting the things which a?-e behind, a?id stretch- 
ing forward to the things which are before. — Phi- 
lippians iii. 13. 

THERE is a proper use of past experiences. We 
should remember our past lost condition to 
keep our hearts ever humble. We should remem- 
ber the lessons learned from past experience so as 
to profit by our mistakes. The true science of liv- 
ing is not to make no mistakes, which is impossible, 
but not to commit the same mistakes a second 
time. 

We should remember past mercies and blessings. 
If we do, our past will shine down upon us like a sky- 
full of stars. Such remembering of the past will 
keep the gratitude ever fresh in our heart, and the 
incense of praise ever burning on the altar. Such 
a house of memory becomes a refuge to which we 
may flee in trouble. When sorrows gather thickly ; 
when trials come on like the waves of the sea ; 
when the sun goes down and every star is quenched, 
and there seems nothing bright in all the present — 
then the memory of a past full of goodness, a past 
in which God never once failed us, becomes a holy 
refuge for us, a refuge gemmed and lighted by the 
lamps of other and brighter days. Thus there are 
right uses of the past. 

But there is a sense in which we should altogether 
forget our past. It is unwise to live looking back. 
We should keep our eyes ever turned forward to 
new hopes, new attainments, new achievements. 

(366) 



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